Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I fully agree with the sentiments that have been expressed. I hope we are moving in that direction. The pricing regime for medicines in this country has traditionally been complex. It is difficult to understand, frankly. As Senator Barrett has said, in many cases generic substitutes are no more than marginally cheaper than the branded product. All of that is covered by earlier agreements. It is impossible to understand how those agreements came about in the first place. For that reason, the substitution rate is extremely low. There is no incentive to substitute if there is no significant saving. That needs to be addressed, obviously, especially as a number of big branded drugs that are widely used are coming off patent in the coming months.

The agreement with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association that was mentioned by Senator Cullinane is an interim one. Discussions are under way to reach a final agreement. We are hopeful that significant progress will be made in that area. Equally, I absolutely agree with Senator Cullinane that we need to achieve a much better deal with generic suppliers. Talks with the generic companies are in process. We are moving on both of those fronts. There is a need to achieve new and much more cost-effective agreements. That, with what is being done in this legislation, will have a significant long-term impact on the drugs bill. I am glad to inform the Senator that an impact assessment has been carried out and can be viewed on the website of the Department of Health.