Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 773: To ask the Minister for Health the annual saving to the Exchequer if all medicines paid for under the GMS scheme were substituted with generic equivalents [36565/12]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has recently published the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012. This Bill, when enacted, shall provide for a system of reference pricing and generic substitution which will drive price competition in the generics market. Forecasts from the pharmaceutical industry demonstrate that a large number of currently patent protected drugs are to lose this protection in the coming years. This being the case the savings to be achieved though the proposed system will increase accordingly.