Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

261. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which his Department has access to information regarding the cost to persons of drugs across the European Union with a view to ensuring equal access for persons here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21083/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The HSE have statutory responsibility for pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the community drug schemes.

In line with Part 4 of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013 the HSE publish and maintain a reimbursement list. This list specifies the ingredient price for each drug. In setting this price or reviewing the price of a reimbursed drug, the HSE shall take into account among other factors, the equivalent reference price of an item in all other member states where the item is marketed and the terms of any agreement in place with industry representative bodies.

The HSE use Euripid and other data sources to inform their decisions regarding the reimbursement list. The Euripid project, which was established in 2010, seeks to be a European wide collaboration of the national competent authorities for pricing and reimbursement to make prices of reimbursable pharmaceuticals more transparent via an on-line accessible, comprehensive, reliable, continuously maintained and easy-to-use database.