Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is more than welcome. My Commencement matter calls on the Minister for Health to provide an assurance that the HSE will give permission to continue to approve and reimburse new medicines from next January onwards. This is a very significant issue. Over the past three years €100 million was provided for new medicines and such expenditure has been greatly needed in this changing world. The new medicines budget over the past three years gave people hope but, unfortunately, that hope has now been taken away and the people who need to access new medicines are frustrated. We are looking at continuous evaluation of how these new medicines affect people and a continuing pipeline. We now have a stop-start scenario because we had money but now we do not which has led people to lose faith in the system.

Eight new medicines have completed a technical assessment and a price has been agreed, which will benefit more than 323 patients who have cancer, but that initiative will be stopped. We are now looking at a scenario where another 15 drugs are undergoing a technical assessment and in the pipeline, which has the potential to help another 1,000 patients who need the medication. There are also more than 3,500 patients who have other issues which range from HIV to autoimmune diseases, etc. Again, all of these patients will be affected by a pipeline of medication and there is significant frustration about funding. This is a huge issue for Ireland Inc. We have had a budget and there was talk of a huge surplus of money gathered from corporate taxes. A lot of those taxes come from the pharma industry and in my part of the world the pharma industry is huge. If we are not going to promote the work done by the pharma industry in Ireland then that is a poor reflection on us as a State. It is extremely important that we have joined-up thinking that promotes the people who pay taxes and provides new medicines that save lives.

In 2007, my late brother, Ger, was on a drug called Interferon that cost €5,000 a shot and was paid for by his health insurance company. The drug gave him an extra 18 months of life and he died from skin cancer in 2009. We now have a two-tier system by not having these medicines put on the actual system. There is potential for people to get these medicines through private health insurance. That is a society that we have moved away from. We talk about Sláintecare and how we need a new system of medicines for various issues. My family saw the benefit of these medicines because Ger had an extra 18 months of precious life and extra time is what patients seek now. They want access and a continuation of service which will give them hope but budget issues have taken away their hope.

Over the last three years €100 million was provided but now there is nothing out of a health budget of €22.5 billion. I do not understand how we cannot find the money because it is really a small amount of money and will save lives, which is why I tabled my Commencement matter. I have no other agenda except what I saw at home many years ago. I saw how these medicines have the potential to give people extra time and, in some cases, they change outcomes. We need to do more to find the money required for this industry.