Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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100. To ask the Minister for Health the level of support the Government is offering in order to relocate the European Medicines Agency to Ireland; and if he will provide the associated cost suggested. [25704/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) plays a vital role in the protection of the health of 500 million EU citizens through the scientific evaluation and safety monitoring of human and veterinary medicines. The EMA is also key to maintaining the competitiveness of the European pharmaceutical industry, which is worth approximately €260 billion annually.

As a consequence of the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union, the EMA must relocate to another Member State. Approximately 20 Members States are seeking to host the Agency. The Government believes that moving the Agency to Dublin would offer a sustainable solution which will minimise any disruption to its critical operations caused by the relocation. In recent months the Minister of State for Health Promotion and I, with the support of Government colleagues and Irish diplomats across the EU, have engaged in an intensive campaign of meetings and visits to promote Dublin’s candidacy.

Subject to the finalisation of formal criteria and of the process to be used to arrive at a decision by Member States, it is anticipated that a formal bid must be submitted to the European Council by 31 July 2017. Government has tasked an interdepartmental/interagency group, led by my Department, with the preparation of Ireland’s bid and this group is working intensively to ensure that a high-quality bid is ready for submission by the deadline. The question of providing particular supports to a relocation of the EMA to Dublin will be considered as part of this process.