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

This is a matter we raised in the House on Tuesday of this week. It was taken at the time by the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly. To be honest, the response is not what we expected. It was quite poor. The HSE stated:

Application for approval is based on clearly defined criteria and follow these guidelines: the number of individuals treated and their commencement on treatment is as per the clinical guideline. All patients that have been recommended clinically for treatment have been approved to date.

That does not answer the question. The parents are telling us that not one of the 25 children that we have identified and with whom we spoke in June of this year when the drug was approved has received the treatment to date. The answer is appalling. It is a disgrace. We have simply asked if the Minister could indicate when the children are likely to be treated. There is a suspicion that the budget for the drug does not exist this year and the Department is trying to delay it until next year's allocation. Is that the case?

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