Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for his ongoing engagement on this issue more broadly. He is right that the drug has been approved by the EMA. The next stage is that the drug company must make an application to the HSE. I checked this morning to see if that had happened. It has not happened yet. Perhaps it has happened in the period I have been in the House, but it had not happened when I checked. I will be watching it very closely. I have already spoken to the Secretary General of my Department and to the CEO of the HSE about this drug and the process it will go through. The Deputy is aware that we have increased capacity by 100% in managing the process within the HSE to make that faster. There are a number of Deputies in the House with a very strong interest in this. I am aware of the issues relating to early access and of the need to provide a system to enable that. That is the most updated position that I have. I will be watching very closely and working with Deputy O'Sullivan, and Deputy Aird who has raised this in a different context.

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