Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy's two questions are one. The generic substitution regime is to be governed by the legislation to which the Deputy referred. The legislation itself does not purport to arrange these substitutions. It gives the Irish Medicines Board the power to do so and the regime is set out in the legislation. The legislation is required for that to be achieved, as the Deputy is aware.

Second Stage of the Bill was completed on Monday afternoon and the Dáil has referred it to the Select Committee on Health. It is my earnest wish, and that of the Minister, that the Bill be expedited as soon as possible. There is no wish for any delay in the passage of the legislation. The contrary is the case. I regard it as a priority. There is, however, an enormous volume of legislation in the system at present, including legislation in the area of health. There have been difficulties in expediting different Bills.

I hope I say this without over-extending the point. We were fortunate that we had time available on Monday, because the House was sitting to deal with other matters, and we were able to get the Bill in on Monday afternoon. The quicker this can be done the better, from our point of view. There are four health Bills in the Houses currently. This is very important legislation, for the reasons I outlined in my reply and which Deputy Ó Caoláin supports, as he did on Second Stage. Anything we can do together to get the Bill through the Houses quickly will be in all our interests.

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