Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In all seriousness, there are lots of countries which still use Lariam. My Department has recently reconvened, on my instruction, the malaria working group. This group met in August and has engaged once again, because of the issues raised, with experts, both nationally and internationally. The group expects to provide an updated report to me later this year.

Roche Products (Ireland) Limited, which distributes Lariam in Ireland, recently informed the Defence Forces that it is planning to discontinue the supply of Lariam to the Irish market with effect from 31 July 2016. I understand this is simply a commercial decision but we will need to plan for the consequences of that decision. We are, and have been, considering alternatives to Lariam but there are no easy answers here. It is not as if one switches from Lariam to something that gives equally effective results with no side effects. Those drugs do not exist. We have to make a balanced decision in the interests of the safety of our troops and that is what we will do.

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