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

I do not accept the Minister's response in its entirety. Up to very recently the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform demanded the right to sanction any new drugs and the Minister for Health had to go before the Cabinet. That was the position. I know that to be the case up to very recently, even up to the time the new cancer drug pembro came along. Professor Stuart Elborn has said:

Long-term follow-up data has indicated that this treatment can prevent disease progression.

Initially, we were able to show that you can make people a bit better. Now we're seeing exciting and reassuring long-term improvement.

We hope it will lead to a further rethink about the long-term benefits.

I am really excited ... [about] the therapy and also the pipeline of other powerful drugs that could get us closer to a cure.

We have the highest number of cystic fibrosis patients per capitain the world. We should be leading this in terms of new technologies and clinical trials and engaging with the industry, not in a reactive mode. Jillian McNulty has said to me that she is convinced that she would not be here without this drug. That is her assessment of the situation. I take that seriously. There is a lot of medical evidence that has not come to the fore and there has been an attempt to talk it down. I believe the context of the discussions would change if there was an acceptance that this drug was effective and was an impactful therapy for people with cystic fibrosis. I am glad the Minister has at least confirmed that much today.

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