Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to once again raise with the Leader the issue of the MS drug Fampyra, or fampridine, which I have been raising in this House since February 2014. I gave the Government advance notice that, from June of last year, people would have to pay for that drug. Since then, I have raised the issue here on numerous occasions, including directly with the Minister for Health in this House, with other colleagues. Everyone seems to agree that a drug which costs no more than €270 per month should be available under the drugs payment scheme but there is still no answer from the Department.

I remind Members there are 1,500 people with MS who are dependent on this drug, which has improved people's mobility and allowed them to go back into the workforce and lead a full life. I have met people who can no longer take the drug and who have regressed. Some are back in wheelchairs, they can no longer work and their mobility has disimproved greatly.

I was a little concerned when the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, came to the House. I got a sense from him - perhaps Senator Craughwell will agree with me - that he actually did not believe in the merits of this drug, even though he said he has no particular role in it. I know of people who are willing to come here to meet Senators of all parties to tell them how important this drug is to them. I again ask the Leader to try to use his good offices and I ask him and all other colleagues to continue to push for the release of this drug that is greatly assisting or had greatly assisted 1,500 people up to now. At 2.15 p.m. today I am meeting MS sufferers who have given their own testimonies about how important this drug is. We are talking about €207 a month, not €3,000 a month.

I will conclude by asking the Leader to arrange, as a matter of urgency, a debate with the Minister for Justice and Equality in regard to policing and crime across the country. In my own area, both in its urban and rural areas, crime is now rampant. Gardaí are so under-resourced that they cannot do the job they are charged to do. In the town of Rush, there is not a shop that has not been robbed by armed robbers over the past year. Garda stations have been closed in both urban and rural areas. It is not just the station closures, however; it is the level of resourcing. In the Dublin metropolitan area, the drugs squad in R district is down 50% in numbers, from having 32 gardaí focusing on the scourge of drugs two years ago, to 16 now. The same type of figures apply in every other unit across the city and county, and across the country, with 40% to 50% reductions in Garda resources.

It is not acceptable. The situation is now at crisis point. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate in the House next week with the Minister for Justice and Equality in order for her to tell us whether the Government is happy to leave the streets of the towns and villages of this country to thieves and burglars. That is what is happening. People are not safe in their homes.