Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, Senator Swanick, for again raising the issue of the drug, Spinraza, as a Commencement matter this morning. However, the answer he was given by the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, was wholly unsatisfactory. Some of the children in need of the drug are in intensive care units but we are given the nonsense of being told the drug is under consideration. It is cruel and dehumanising. It is beyond comprehension that the Minister cannot meet the families of those affected. I understand that there are statutory responsibilities but I want the Minister to meet these families to see the situation first-hand. The Minister of State stated that these decisions are made on objective scientific and economic grounds. What about humane grounds?