Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am acutely conscious that there are real lives behind these speeches. Sometimes these speeches can come across as very harsh departmental responses but I am acutely aware that real people and children are involved, including mums, dads, brothers and sisters. We are talking about real life and I am not going to forget that for a second. I will have the assessment process looked at and will ask my officials to review it. There is a difficulty in that very clear guidelines are set out on how to assess the process and that is done in law. The process for it is under Schedule 3 of the 2013 Act. The NCPE has made a recommendation but the HSE has not yet made a decision and I want to clarify that. Some recent media reports have presented it in such a way as to indicate that the decision has been made. The decision has not been made, just the NCPE recommendation. It has looked at it under a variety of criteria to assess it, as it is duty-bound to, under the Act, and it has not recommended it but the HSE has yet to make a decision on it and that assessment process is still ongoing. I appreciate the opportunity that both Deputies have given to give air time to the matter and to add a human side to ongoing deliberations.

We spend €1.7 billion on prescribed drugs in this country and that is a challenge. We cannot have an open chequebook scenario when an international pharmaceutical giant comes to Ireland to offer prescription drugs at sometimes twice the rate they are sold for in other countries. There is a negotiation process and unfortunately a business model underpins it. It is of course about human life at all levels, but I reassure the Deputies that the final decision has not been made and the HSE's deliberations are ongoing. I welcome the Deputies' contributions to that process.

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