Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like others I congratulate everybody who made it through in the different areas of election over the weekend. I commiserate with those who lost seats and particularly those who in participating put their life blood into local and national politics. It is a difficult day for those people. I congratulate my colleague, Senator Clune, for her achievement as it is not easy to get elected to the European Parliament.

The drug Fampyra was mentioned by Senator O'Brien yesterday and this is a serious issue for sufferers of multiple sclerosis.

It is a really serious issue for sufferers of multiple sclerosis, MS. A friend has unfortunately contracted the disease and it appears to me that the only reason he is still mobile is because of the drug. It is the human side of Government that sometimes gets lost when one enters politics. One is in difficulty when one loses humanity. The provision of the drug is something that must be funded. We cannot allow people to lose their independence because of the cost of the drug. The drug that my friend has been using for some time on a trial basis is a new one but it is coming onto the market as the trial has been concluded. In this Chamber we are good at some things; we are quite good at some of the small, human stories. This Chamber should be able to raise a flag for people who suffer from MS and do something about it. I call on the Leader in a constructive manner and not in any confrontational way, in the same way as the issue was raised yesterday, to ask the Minister for Health to come to the Chamber. The issue is very specific to a small number of people who suffer from MS. If the Leader were to ask the Minister to come to the House, he would have the full support of every Member to do something about the situation.