John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. In terms of the programme for Government, Deputy Gino Kenny raised the issue of the provision of orphan drugs and drugs for rare diseases. In the Taoiseach's reply, he referred to establishing the efficacy of such drugs, but I remind him that, in some circumstances, there are only three, four or five patients affected by the disease in question. As such, establishing that type of information is next to impossible. We need to consider separately drugs for rare diseases, which affect approximately 0.05% of the population, and ultra rare diseases, which affect less than 0.02% of the population. If we do not, we will never get drugs that are badly needed for a very small population group.

I wish to ask about the drug Respreeza, which we have discussed many times in the Chamber. The company has agreed to supply it for the next six months free of charge, but the HSE is now in a battle with the company about who will pay for the drug's distribution over those months. The H3N2 virus, or the so-called Aussie flu, is out there. If it comes to these shores, the Respreeza patient group will be extremely vulnerable. We need to get this issue resolved. I call on the Taoiseach to intervene with the HSE.

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