John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his officials for coming to the House for this debate. A number of Senators have spoken about people they know or people close to them who suffer from cystic fibrosis and everyone in the House knows someone with the condition. I agree with the Minister that it is unacceptable that cystic fibrosis patients are being used as pawns. There is no doubt that these people and their difficult situations are being brazenly used. It is hard not to come to the conclusion that there is something unorthodox, if not rotten, about the way some elements of the international pharmaceutical business operates in terms of pricing policy. Families in this situation are going to look to the nearest point to them, namely, the HSE or the Minister to help them. It is great to see solidarity and understanding in the Seanad today in the sense that we all agree that we must deal with this collectively and must call out where the real issue lies.

The Minister said that he has been in contact with four other countries. I totally endorse the remarks made by Senator Craughwell. He rightly asked why, as members of the European Union, we cannot deal with drugs pricing across the whole European family. Today, tomorrow or next week, a family will be told that their little boy or girl has cystic fibrosis and the unedifying situation in which we currently find ourselves is horrendous in that context. It is bad enough to have to deal with such a serious condition but to be pawns in a game that seems to be just about profit is totally unacceptable.

I am very heartened by the tone and nature of the discussion we are having today. I wish the Minister, his Department and the HSE the very best in their efforts to get the price of this drug down to an acceptable level. We have already put the slide rule over that and know what price is about right.