Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for again raising the issue. It is not a matter of giving a direction to the Minister. As a House, we decided in legislation that whether drugs were to be reimbursed should not be a political decision and it is not for good reason. Whether a new medicine is to be licensed for use is a decision either for the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, or the European Medicines Agency, while whether it is to be reimbursed is a decision to be made by the HSE national drugs committee based on best clinical advice. As I mentioned to Deputy Lisa Chambers on the previous occasion she raised the issue, it is not simply a matter of whether a medicine is effective but how effective it is

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