Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a life and death issue and it is a fundamental imperative that we do everything we possibly can to improve the quality of life and extend the life of those with CF. There is no doubting the health benefits to be derived from Orkambi. In the assessment it was rejected "at submitted cost"; in other words, it was regarded as too expensive. The benefits are well reported not just by those in the clinical trial, but objectively.

There is a cost issue and our policy across this area is somewhat flawed. Regardless of whether we like it, the costs keep interrupting our process. There was a cost element with other drugs that have recently been approved. Until recently, new drugs and therapies had to be approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

In the final paragraph of her article in The Irish Times Orla Tinsley wrote:

I am so far away from the constant daily struggle I was once confined by that this thought is newly harrowing. [She is in a better space, having had access to the drug in the United States.] Generations need not suffer because a drug company and a government cannot negotiate a real solution. There must be a price reduction. The results of the Orkambi trial were released two years ago this month. [This was last June.] That's two years the 505 Irish people suitable for Orkambi have been waiting to sail on to that new chapter of their lives.

I respectfully suggest that the process has dragged on for far too long. There needs to be a resolution, an impetus and an injection of urgency in order to get this sorted.

See this speech in context