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

I note the Minister for Health is also present. I raise with him an article published in The Irish Timesthis morning about the possible cutting of funding for new drugs in the budget. I do not expect the Minister to reveal the budget here and I know negotiations are still ongoing. However, a number of us have been contacted by stakeholders and patients' groups about their concerns leading up to the budget. It is right that we highlight this here today in advance of the budget next week. We are a hub for biopharma and innovation in this field and any such move would be a retrograde step and would halt the progress that has been made, to be fair to the Minister, over the past three years, in providing new moneys for drugs. I just wanted to highlight the issue.

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