John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I am disappointed that the Minister for Health is not here today although that is no reflection on the Minister of State. I know that the Minister is away on St. Patrick's Day business but that would usually be accommodated by a change to the Parliamentary Questions rota. The parents of these children are very disappointed that the Minister is not here to respond, particularly as they were outside the Dáil two weeks ago and presented a petition containing over 100,000 signatures to him.

Most other EU countries have now made this drug available. The Minister of State has very clearly outlined the process involved here but my point is that it is clearly not fit for purpose. There is a major problem when 25 other European countries have a system in place which enables them to make this drug available but we do not. Our system is not working and I call on the Minister to review it because these children cannot be denied this drug indefinitely. This has gone on for too long and we need to find a solution. We have relied on procedure time and again. However, the procedure is failing us and we must change it.

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