Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On a number of occasions I have raised the issue of the drug Fampyra which greatly assists a number of multiple sclerosis sufferers by allowing them to get their mobility back and, effectively, enjoy an independent life. People whom I know and others who are involved in the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland have advised me that the drug has a positive effect on a significant number of people with multiple sclerosis because it allows them to remain independent and to continue working.

I know that the Leader has already raised this matter with the Minister for Health, as Senator Michael D'Arcy and I have also. This drug costs a mere €270 per month but from July it will be gone from the GMS scheme. A number of people will not be able to afford it so they will end up in hospital and unable to work, at a further cost to the State. This should not be about cost, however.

Since my dealings with a number of people on Fampyra, I have learned that there is another MS drug called Lemtrada. A number of people have reacted very well to the latter drug which has assisted many people in continuing and improving their quality of life. I have also learned that within the next three weeks Lemtrada will not be funded by the HSE.

I have written to the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and the HSE on numerous occasions but I have received only a bog-standard response. Within three weeks, many of these people will not be able to access these life-changing drugs. This is something that should concern all Members of this House.

Multiple Sclerosis Ireland has a specific concern about these two drugs that relates to its own members. Does the HSE and the Department of Health have a specific view on multiple sclerosis? I would have thought that such medical advances, including the provision of these drugs, would be crucially important. I thought the Minister would get personally involved in the matter, but he has not done so up to now.

I know that, like myself, the Minister for Health will attend the House later for the debate on the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014. However, it is not necessarily appropriate for me to ask him about these drugs, nor does he have to answer such questions, when he attends this House to deal with a specific Bill.

We should have a debate not just on MS treatment but other drugs, as well as the process of how a drug gets into the GMS and the drugs payment scheme. We should also debate the impact of withdrawing drugs from those schemes. I appreciate the Leader's assistance on this issue up to now. I ask him again, however, in the strongest possible terms, to request the Minister to intervene with the HSE on this matter.

I will move a motion in the House next week seeking cross-party support from the Seanad on this point. It will be a non-political motion requesting that both the aforementioned drugs should remain in the drugs payment scheme. The Seanad should stand up for people who need our help but who cannot obtain answers from the Department of Health or the HSE.