Written answers

Thursday, 19 February 2009

Department of Health and Children

Drugs Payment Scheme

5:00 pm

Photo of Olivia MitchellOlivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 24: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when she will publish the Dr. Michael Barry report; the amount of money expected to be saved if the recommendations of the report are implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6670/09]

Photo of Róisín ShortallRóisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 59: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she has read the report by Dr. Michael Barry on ways of reducing spending under the drugs repayment scheme; her views on the fact that the percentage of generic drugs being dispensed has gone down in the past ten years; if she will address this element in the cost of drugs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6556/09]

Photo of Mary HarneyMary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 59 together.

The report of the group chaired by Dr. Barry, entitled "Economies in Drug Usage in the Irish Healthcare Setting" has been published on my Department's website, www.dohc.ie.

One of the recommendations made in the report is that General Practitioners should be encouraged and facilitated to prescribe generic products. I am in the process of establishing a group, chaired by Dr. Barry, to advance this and other recommendations that relate to changes in prescribing practices. The group will include representatives of my Department, the Health Service Executive and the Irish Medical Organisation.

One of the objectives of the current agreement with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) is to enhance the ability of patients to have a greater say in the prescribing process with a view to choosing, in consultation with the prescriber, the medicine that best meets their needs and delivers best value for money. The agreement also provides for significant reductions in the price of patent-expired proprietary medicines. These reductions (20% in March 2007 and 15% in January 2009) have largely removed the current premium paid for these products over many branded and non-branded generic equivalents. Based on expert advice from the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, received prior to the negotiation of the IPHA agreement, it was concluded that a system of compulsory generic substitution in the pharmacy, as used in some other jurisdictions, would have significantly less benefit in the Irish community schemes than in other countries but could, given the relative size of the Irish market, have an adverse effect on continuity and security of supply for Irish patients.

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