Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I do not blame the Minister of State, but if I was a parent of a child listening to this, I would believe the fault lies with the manufacturer, Vertex. That is not disputable. It is also not disputable that Vertex is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, so much so that I looked up its listings on how much it makes per year. To say it is eye-watering is an understatement. It has a stock valuation of $70 billion. Its turnover two years ago just for the drug, Kaftrio, was $5.7 billion. Two years ago, it made a profit of $4.3 billion. It is incredible the amount that a pharmaceutical company can make and at the same time go into a dispute with, and almost blackmail, governments around the access to this drug. It is absolutely immoral that pharmaceutical companies, most of which are based in Ireland, have governments and families over a barrel. They make an amazing profit, but the Minister of State said in her statement that they are looking for extra funding. I am sure they have done very well out of the Irish State just with this particular drug. They have made tens of millions of euro in profits but they will not compromise on this issue. The Minister of State must agree that it is absolutely immoral. I do not know how these people sleep at night while at the same time children are being denied this drug. In one guise Kaftrio is being hailed as the closest thing to a cure for those with CF, yet this is being denied to children. It is absolutely immoral. Hopefully, the Minister can convey this sentiment to the CEO of Vertex.

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