Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister, her officials and the Bills Office for their assistance. I have a greater understanding of the health services after four weeks of debating health Bills in the House. I thank the IPU, the Irish Pharmaceutical Society and the hospital pharmacists for their assistance. I acknowledge the role played by the Irish Pharmaceutical Society during the past 135 years and wish it continued success in its new guise and role. It has plenty of work ahead of it. The legislation has put a great onus on it.

I am not 100% convinced we did the right thing in the Bill and it remains to be seen how it works in practice. My main concern is that when patients go to a doctor, they are not prescribed drugs because of commercial interest. I hope this never happens and I hope no one is prescribed or over-prescribed drugs he or she does not need. The main aim of the Bill is to ensure patient safety.

The business world is unusual and it is difficult to prove matters after a while, which was proved recently by tribunals of inquiry. Although we may have heard innuendo about politicians in the past, many of us in the House have been flabbergasted by the truth, which was much worse than any of us ever suspected. I hope the Bill will go some way in regulating this area. Although I would have been happier to see a built-in review, perhaps we will ensure it happens when Fine Gael is in Government and Deputy Twomey is Minister for Health and Children.