Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am disappointed with the decision of the HSE to reduce the threshold used for determining cost-effectiveness. The NCPE makes recommendations, but these are based on values of life expectancy and quality of life. The HSE has decided to reduce the threshold from €40,000 to €20,000, which will have a negative impact on many people who are waiting for breakthrough medicines or new drugs that are coming onto the market on a continual basis. The example of Ipilimumab is a case in point. This drug was recommended some time ago for the treatment of melanoma, but the HSE had to be dragged kicking and screaming into making it available. There is a difficulty in that regard. We must get used to the fact that there will be continual advances in technology and increases in the number of available medicines, while life expectancy and survival rates, particularly for people with cancer, will continually increase. That is the most positive thing we can say about the national cancer care strategy. Does the Minister of State accept that reducing the threshold of adjudication from €40,000 to €20,000 will mean that many people may not receive life-saving treatments because of cost-cutting measures and that this will have a detrimental impact on quality of life and even on life itself?

See this speech in context