David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This Bill is important for transparency purposes. We know fees are paid to healthcare professionals or organisations for a range of reasons, including consultancy, speaking events, analysis and medical writing, with no proper record of the payments made and their purpose. Gifts can also come in the form of conferences and payments for travel, accommodation and registration costs. Evidence shows that in other jurisdictions, payments and gifts from the pharmaceutical industry are associated with higher prescribing rates and costs for certain products, increased use of specific drug classes and products and lower prescribing quality. The opioid crisis in the United States, fuelled by payments, gifts and misleading information from a pharmaceutical corporation to prescribers, highlights the need for controls and transparency.

A voluntary register exists but it has no teeth. It is maintained by the pharmaceutical sector and not a regulatory body. Research from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, found that the identify of many recipients remained anonymous and that other payments were likely not being recorded at all.

A huge amount of work needs to be done to create a better culture of transparency in the HSE. That is for sure. This deals with a very specific issue, however. I hope that when we move the Bill on Second Stage, it will be supported by Government.

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