Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the announcement that Gilenya will be made available to people suffering from multiple sclerosis. Clinical trials and international evidence show the drug can give quality of life to people with the condition. It is an oral-based therapy, which should decrease the cost of its provision by the HSE.

There is a broader issue at stake. The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics assesses the impact of and the value for money provided by high-tech medicines. We have reduced dramatically the base level at which we consider a drug to be suitable in terms of improved quality of life. However, the reduction from €45,000 to €20,000 means we are playing God with more people. This cannot be allowed to continue and it will have a devastating impact on people's ability to access high quality, high-tech innovative drugs that make a difference in terms of quality of life.

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