James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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394. To ask the Minister for Health to outline his plans to commence the consultation process on a national biosimilars policy, which he indicated he would commence in March 2017; the reason for the delay in launching this consultation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32268/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government has decided to introduce a National Biosimilar Strategy to promote the usage of biosimilar medicines in Ireland and a public consultation process will form part of the policy development.

In preparation for the consultation process and policy development my officials have conducted in-depth research on the approaches that other countries have taken to increase the usage of biosimilars and other preparatory work. This body of work is being used to shape the public consultation in order to deliver the most informative results. This data will then be used to inform the drafting of the National Biosimilar Medicines Policy.

The consultation process for the National Biosimilar Medicines policy is currently in an advanced stage of preparation and I expect it to commence in the near future.