Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for his explanation. It is extremely important that we move forward at a reasonably fast pace in dealing with the matter as we are already way behind the rest of Europe with the availability of generic drugs. The cost of medication and drugs has increased from €574 million in 2000 to more than €2 billion, which is all the more reason we must face up to the issue. I agree that we must ensure the process is fast-tracked as much as possible. The generic drugs about which we are talking are already accepted in other jurisdictions, so we should be able to deal with this matter expeditiously. I very much welcome the amendments, as they are appropriate to deal with the issue.