Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this matter for the Topical Issue debate and I thank the Minister of State for being present to take it. When it was selected I had a four-minute speech prepared outlining the background to this issue and then I thought what is the point of doing that as anybody who does any background check will find all the parliamentary questions that have been tabled on the issue. I would say it has been raised by every Deputy in the House at some stage during the past year. Therefore, I will not bore the Minister of State with the background story to this issue, of which she is only too well aware.

Like every other Deputy, I have been contacted by numerous people in recent weeks and months. It is only when reads of or listens to the human stories of the people involved that one fully understands how the non-availability of this drug is impacting on people's lives. I was contacted recently by one woman whose life has been significantly curtailed since she finished on the drug. She can no longer walk as far as she once could and her balance is greatly affected, which makes her more fearful in terms of walking and greatly reduces her independence. Another woman who wrote to me spoke of her anger at being failed by the State, particularly as she knows that many others are in a similar position, having their lives curtailed because of decisions made purely on economic grounds when there is a very human cost to these decisions.

I know the Minister of State is very well aware of this issue. The first Topical Issue debate on this issue took place on 10 June last year but responses to parliamentary questions on 6 May of this year indicate that this issue has not been moved forward much on the basis that the responses state that the company has re-applied again to submit this drug under the schemes and that the Department and the HSE are working with it. The problem is that this has been going on for a year at this stage. Multiple sclerosis sufferers are no further along the line of knowing what the Government can do in their cases and their lives are being terribly curtailed and impacted by the lack of information.

I would like to find out today where those negotiations are at. If the problem is with the pharmaceutical company that is involved, it is important that we would know that. Who is handling the negotiations? When was the last date a meeting took place on this issue? Is it possible to move this topic on, even a little today, for us to be able to say to multiple sclerosis sufferers that we are concerned about where we are at with this process.

I know full well that the drug does not work for everybody but for those for whom it does work, it seems to be a life-changing experience for them. We must be careful and understand that if we can make a difference in one person's life, it would be a major achievement if we could get this drug included under one of the free schemes. I understand the Department of Health more than any other Department has huge cost containment issues because everybody wants to get the drug that will help save their lives included under the schemes, but if the inclusion of this drug can help change even one person's life, including those women I mentioned in Galway, I would urge the Minister of State, the Minister, Deputy Varadkar and the Government to get this drug included under the scheme as soon as possible.

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