Written answers

Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Photo of Louise O'ReillyLouise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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447. To ask the Minister for Health the savings to the Exchequer from a 2% reduction in branded medicines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11391/16]

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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According to the HSE, the Primary Care Reimbursement Service spent approximately €1 billion in ingredient costs on medicines from monopoly suppliers in the year ending November 2014.

Therefore, a 2 percent reduction in these costs would save the Exchequer approximately €20 million.

Photo of Louise O'ReillyLouise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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448. To ask the Minister for Health to provide an update on Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11392/16]

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Health, the HSE, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Office of Government Procurement entered negotiations with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) in recent months, with a view to securing an agreement that:

- significantly reduced the price of medicines to the Irish taxpayer;

- reduced the growth in the drugs and medicines bill to an affordable level; and, as result,

- put the HSE in a position to invest in new and innovative medicines over the next four years.

My colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and I formally briefed Government on the position with regard to these negotiations, in particular that the State team had concluded that the potential of the current negotiation process had been exhausted and that the value of the best offer of the IPHA fell substantially short of what would satisfy the State's strategic requirements.

In the absence of an agreement with IPHA, the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013 is available to the HSE to determine the reimbursement prices paid.

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