Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We in Sinn Féin are very disappointed that agreement has not been reached in the North. I find it very difficult to listen to what Deputy Micheál Martin has to say on the subject. He has never sought to be constructive around the talks and has no credibility whatsoever. Sinn Féin has engaged fully and we have worked in good faith with the DUP. We have stretched ourselves and we had reached an accommodation with the leadership of the DUP, only for them to fail to close on it and the talks have now collapsed. The issues have not gone away, however, and we will continue to work in a constructive manner with the British Government, the Irish Government and others who want to be constructive to get the institutions up and running again.

I thank the Leader for accommodating my request for a full debate on Versatis at 3.30 p.m. next Wednesday. I look forward to it and to the Minister being present for it. We are indebted to all the people who have contacted us on this in the past number of months, including consultants, GPs and other medical professionals. I also thank those who came into the AV room for the presentation, particularly John Lindsay and Deirdre Ryan from Chronic Pain Ireland, and I thank them for the work they have done, as I do Brian Lynch from Arthritis Ireland. I also thank Mary Carroll, who has personal experience of using Versatis, for being there.

This issue affects 25,000 people across the State in every constituency but there has been no constructive response to the questions we have raised to date. The patients' voices detailing their own suffering, and the effectiveness of Versatis in treating their chronic pain, have been ignored. We know that this particularly affects low-income patients and this means if one has the money one does not have the pain, while if one does not, one continues with the pain or goes on morphine patches or other less effective remedies.

Introducing a secondary layer of approval completely undermines the relationship of the consultant, the GP and the patient. No indication was given to GPs on how to take patients off this drug safely and there were only guidelines around the cost, which tells us a lot. There was no clinical treatment plan for an alternative and we have no evidence that the manufacturer of Versatis was approached by the HSE to reduce the cost of the patches. It is absolutely unclear as to whether a cost-benefit analysis was carried out before the decision was made. The additional costs for alternative medicine, hospitalisation, homecare packages, home help hours and antidepressants were not taken into account, not to mention the loss of working hours, social isolation and exclusion. Even at this stage and before next Wednesday, I appeal to the Minister to ask the HSE to review this decision and to take time out until some of the concerns have been addressed.