Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is working on this issue now. It has been the subject of discussion at our Cabinet subcommittee which deals with health policy. As the Deputy acknowledged, it is no longer an issue of the funding of new drugs. The Deputy will also appreciate the trade-offs and balances involved in this context. A patient and a family desperately want a new form of treatment to be made available, but at times the cost of such a treatment can be so high that any Government across the world would grapple with the trade-offs in this respect. The Minister is examining this matter at present. He brought forward an initiative to the Government this week regarding how we can make greater use of biosimilars, which I think is the phrase used, that is, generic drugs. In tandem with this approach, he is looking at what steps can be taken to step up the process the Deputy referred to. We are aware of the anguish and difficulty patients face as they are waiting for an outcome from the current procedure.

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