Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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1327. To ask the Minister for Health the amount his Department or the HSE has received from pharmaceutical companies in each of the years 2017 to 2019 and to date in 2020. [33163/20]

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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1328. To ask the Minister for Health the purpose for which the HSE and public hospitals are receiving money from pharmaceutical companies. [33164/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1327 and 1328 together.

The Department of Health and the HSE do not accept money from pharmaceutical companies.

According to the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA), since July 2016, details of companies’ engagements with, and support of, Health Care Professionals through direct or indirect financial support or ‘Transfers of Value’ have been publicly disclosed in accordance with their Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry. ().

I, as Minister for Health, and my Department, have no function in this area.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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1329. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department or the HSE has a policy on its staff and facilities receiving donations from pharmaceutical companies. [33165/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The staff of my Department are governed by the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour which requires them to conduct themselves with honest, impartiality and integrity. In particular Section 16 of that code deals extensively with the receipt of gifts and states, amongst other things, that 'Civil servants should not receive benefits of any kind from a third party which might reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgement or integrity'.

Members of the Board of a State body holding a Designated Board membership and persons occupying a Designated Position of employment with a State body are required to comply with relevant provisions of the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001, including regarding the receiving of gifts. The Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, adhered to by bodies under the aegis of the Department, requires that each body have in place a code of conduct for all employees that provides that the giving or receiving of corporate gifts, hospitality, preferential treatment or benefits which might affect or appear to affect the ability of the donor or the recipient to make independent judgment on business transactions should be avoided.