Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators Glynn, Minihan, Henry and Browne for their assistance with this legislation. I very much agree with what Senator Henry said about the dangers of prescribing and the public's assumption that a visit to a doctor necessarily entails the acquisition of a controlled drug or any other strong substance. That need not necessarily be the case. A doctor's first function is to diagnose, and there are many remedies for different complaints that do not require the consumption of a drug.

That is a timely warning. Whether we like it or not, it is very visible in the Estimates of expenditure for the Department of Health and Children that there is a great deal of consumption when it comes to controlled pharmaceutical drugs in our country and culture, and we must make the necessary legal arrangements for them. I accept Senator Browne's criticism on the chin that the Minister and I have been slow to introduce these amendments. However, they are important and improve the legislation by introducing some degree of flexibility regarding the prescribing of drugs, something touched on in the amendments tabled by Senators today.

The Bill is valuable legislation and will strengthen our powers of regulation in this area. I thank the Senators for a very interesting debate and for the quality of the contributions they made to it. I wish Senators a very happy Christmas and a peaceful new year. Is this the last session?