Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I understand he is taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health.

As the Minister of State well knows, Ireland has nine of the ten leading pharmaceutical production companies in Europe. It is a leading exporter of new medicines and medicines in general, not only throughout Europe but also the rest of the world. During the Covid pandemic, we played a leading role in exporting medicines. Sadly, however, when it comes to Irish patients accessing new medicines, our record is one of the poorest in Europe. Although we are one of the best in Europe at producing new medicines and pharmaceutical products, we are one of the worst when it comes to facilitating access to them by our own citizens.

A Mazars report commissioned by the Government some years ago and published only in recent years outlined a framework with recommendations to address this issue. To be fair to the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, an implementation working group on the recommendations of the report has been set up, but sadly it is very slow-moving. In 2021, the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association, IPHA, entered a four-year agreement with the Government on the basis of which efficiencies in terms of medicines were to be achieved and the Government, for its part, was to make financial contributions to the fields of orphan and new medicines. In the first year, €50 million was made available. That went down to €30 million in 2022 and to €18 million in 2023, and sadly there was no provision in budget 2024. Owing to the outcry from advocates and people who need new medicines, the Minister eventually made €20 million available towards the end of last year and requested that the HSE find another €10 million through efficiencies and make it available for new medicines. New medicines, when available, greatly benefit patients. Apart from the quality-of-life gains people can experience on new medicines, those medicines represent a significant saviour in terms of hospital stays, hospital beds, illness and so on.

This is an area in which we have lagged behind and in which we could and should do a whole lot better. As a First World country, a country that did so well during the Covid pandemic, when we had one of the lowest mortality rates in Europe, and as a country that is one of the wealthiest in Europe per head of population, we should have access to the best medicines available, which are being produced in our country. Given that our patients live in a country with a proud record of producing new orphan medicines that make life so much better for other citizens in other countries, it is very frustrating that they are among the last who can access many of the medicines produced here. I hope the Minister of State will have a positive reply from the Minister for Health whereby we can at least create a pathway towards improvement and be on par with our European colleagues.