Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and recognise his ongoing work in this area in ensuring we have new medicines, particularly for rare diseases. I met with the industry representatives' group and made a point that I think is well known, which is that funding for new developments in healthcare is a matter for the budget and is an ongoing conversation.

No decisions have been made but there is a lot of pressure there. Notwithstanding that, in this year's spend, there is about €100 million in spending on new medicines that have come in over the past three budgets, and that is making new medicines available for a lot of children and adults throughout the country.

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