Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, so far this year the HSE has approved the use of 23 new medicines and five new uses of existing medicines, representing an additional investment by the HSE over five years of approximately €175 million. It is not as if the HSE wants to deliberately prevent the use of these drugs. We are effectively in a negotiation between the HSE and the company involved to ensure we get a fair price so we can provide these drugs to families who have, understandably, grown incredibly impatient and frustrated because they cannot access them. I appreciate that there is frustration and I have answered questions about Spinraza for many months now. Many colleagues from the Opposition and Government benches are also concerned because they know these families. The process needs to come to a conclusion but we must be careful not to set a precedent that switches the decision-making process based on-----

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