Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy John Brassil, for bringing forward the Bill and I welcome the opportunity to speak on it. I do not profess to be a member of a health committee but a couple of weeks ago I sat in the audiovisual room where Deputy Alan Kelly hosted Vicky Phelan and two other ladies, Áine Morgan and Tracey Brennan. To my dismay I could not believe what I was hearing, which was that Vicky was in receipt of pembro but the other two ladies were not. They are at advanced stages of cervical cancer. Their only ask on the night was to have access to this orphan drug. This is something for which we should press really hard, as was done successfully with Orkambi and Kalydeco. They brought immense relief to all the families involved. For those ladies, who are sitting at home at this moment in time, their ask is with regard to pembro. On that evening, a consultant was with them. Fewer than 50 people are looking for access to it. The Bill is a response to a medicine crisis faced by Irish patients suffering from a rare disease.

The Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) (Amendment) Bill 2018 seeks to reform the HSE's current reimbursement process by establishing for the first time a unique process for assessing an orphan drug for reimbursement in Ireland. The Bill brings a long overdue and credible solution to the ongoing crisis surrounding access to medicine. I compliment Deputy Brassil. When he spoke earlier he said that on 27 September 2017 he listened to a response from the Minister and has returned with a solution. I hope the Government will support him.

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