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

I will take on the Deputy's challenge of putting in place a timeline for the range of initiatives outlined in my speech. There always will be tension between the State as the purchaser of important drugs and the giant pharmaceutical companies producing and supplying them, often for lottery type amounts of money. The State has to ensure affordability not only in terms of fiscal governance but to ensure they are available to everybody who needs them. If we pay over the odds for any particular drug we would limit the number of people who can avail of them. Notwithstanding those challenges, the Deputy has asked that we be more prescient in our timelines and I will pass on his request to the Minister.

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