Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The advances made over the years in medicine generally and in particular ailments have been astounding. The pipeline of new drugs coming on stream has simply exploded because of the research, the innovation and the work that is going into precise and specific elements for which drugs are now produced. The Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013 sets out the legal and statutory process in this regard. The HSE makes the decisions here. We are awaiting a decision in the case of the melanoma drugs mentioned by the Deputy. As he has pointed out, responsibility for such decisions has been transferred from those involved in the political process to those involved in the quality-of-life process who have the clinical excellence and so on. There has been an explosion in the number of new drugs coming through the pipeline. Now that the Orkambi case has been settled, we are awaiting the provision of finance to provide between 30 and 40 new drugs to patients with particular ailments. The Minister for Health travelled to Malta earlier this month to sign the Valletta declaration, under which Ireland and seven other countries have agreed to work together on procuring, deciding on priorities and bringing about cost reductions so that more patients will be able to access new and specific drugs. I am sure that any Minister for Health would like to be able to say that as new drugs for particular chronic ailments, including melanomas, come on stream and are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, he or she will be in a position to provide for those drugs. Even though cost reductions have been secured in the case of Orkambi for a very good cause - cystic fibrosis patients - I understand it is the most expensive drug in this country's history. The Minister and the Department are aware of this issue. I think that by bringing about international collaboration between the countries that have signed up to the Valletta declaration on joint procurement, we will bring about an improvement in this situation.

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