Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that the Minister is considering that request in the process that is to come. If I can go off on a bit of a tangent around the greater reimbursement process, does the Minister have any proposals in terms of allowing early access to drugs? Is that being considered by his Department or by himself? Will he be doing any review or report on it? Previously I spoke to the Minister about risk-sharing initiatives that could be done with partners in industry. Is that being considered by the Department at present? I spoke to the Minister yesterday about the report in The Lancetthat was published earlier in the month. It shows that time lags here in Ireland are considerable compared to our EU counterparts. Could the Minister give us an update on any other initiatives, be they legislative or non-legislative? I am probably more interested in any non-legislative measures that the Minister might be considering taking, if he could give us an update specific to orphan drugs.

See this speech in context