Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I would like to speak about the European Medicines Agency. My understanding is that all drugs that are approved in this country come through European sources. The European Medicines Agency is the primary association or institution for that. I take some offence at the part of the Minister of State's speech that referred to "many factors" shaping decisions, including "benefit to patients, quality of evidence, existence of alternatives, treatment duration [and] potential to save lives". The Minister of State said "these factors are not part of the EMA evaluation", but I understand that is not the case. As a layman, I have to wonder what the agency is for if such issues do not come before it. The script refers to "scientific evaluation".