Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 194: To ask the Minister for Health the cost to the Exchequer of drugs purchased for the years 2011 and 2012. [11790/12]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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In 2010 the HSE's Primary Care Reimbursement Service spent €1.9 billion on medicines and other prescribed items supplied under the GMS and community drugs schemes. (This includes mark-ups and dispensing fees paid to pharmacists and wholesalers). Finalised figures for 2011 are not yet available.

The cost of medicines supplied in public hospitals is met from the overall budget of each hospital and is estimated to be in excess of €300 million per annum.

In recent years, a number of changes to the pricing and reimbursement system have been successfully introduced. These have resulted in an overall reduction in pharmaceutical expenditure by the HSE despite increases in the number of eligible people and the number of items supplied.