Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo those sentiments. An article in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy states, "To be effective, drug-cost management efforts should be planned and executed as a continual process, not just as a brief annual exercise when the budget is prepared and provided to hospital administration". We are embarking here on something that is very important and I commend the Minister of State.

I found another interesting piece in the Economic Policy journal, which states, "If health insurance is to benefit fully from generic medicines, it ought to encourage faster uptake and price competition, and discourage price-fixing regulation that ties generic prices to those of originator brands". This Bill could be a major step forward in terms of necessary reform of the health service. Once again, I commend the Minister of State.