Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am not certain Deputy Troy heard fully all of my reply. I stated that the health technology assessment report is expected in mid-October. We are almost at the end of September and it is just another month away. It is important, and I am not dismissing for one minute the urgency of all of this.

We are also taking a serious look at clinicians who would have to identify who within the 200 to 300 - it would not be only 200 - would have significant clinical need. We all are conscious of that. Equally, for our own sake - because there have been issues with medications, although I am not saying that in this case it is so - it is important that within our own domain we have clinical governance over what we use in this country. I have always been a strong advocate of that. We cannot merely accept what others say.

In terms of cost, which is an issue, it is a terrible pity that we do not have some kind of collaboration within the European Union on such drugs. If there were and if one decided to use it, the bigger the market the better the deal and, therefore, the better the service one would be able to get for those who need such extremely expensive but innovative and exciting drugs. We must accept that medication is changing constantly.

It will be mid-October when we will have this report back to us and a decision will be made then. That is not too long to wait. If we were talking about June next year, I would be agreeing with Deputy Troy.

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