11 Mar 2015, 17:48
HSE and Department representatives to appear before Committee tomorrow on cost of prescription drugs
11 March 2015
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children will tomorrow morning continue its discussions on the cost of prescription drugs when it receives a briefing from the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive.
The meeting tomorrow will include the following witnesses:
- John Hennessy - National Director, Primary Care Division, HSE
- Shaun Flanagan – MPSI, Chief Pharmacist, Corporate Pharmaceutical Unit, HSE
- Patrick Burke - Assistant National Director, Primary Care Reimbursement Service, HSE
- Prof Michael Barry - Clinical Lead for the Medicines Management Programme
- Fergal Goodman - Assistant Secretary, Department of Health
- Teresa Cody - Principal Officer, Primary Care Division, Department of Health
The engagement with HSE and Department Officials follows last week’s meeting on the issues pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and academic voices.
Committee Chairman Jerry Buttimer TD says: “Following a productive meeting last week with pharmacists, and representatives from branded and generic manufacturers, the Committee will gain from the presence of senior officials from the Department of Health and the HSE on this issue at tomorrow’s meeting. On foot of these public hearings, the Committee intends to publish a report making recommendations to the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Minister for Health on the cost of prescription drugs in Ireland.”
Deputy Buttimer has expressed disappointment that Alexion, the company which produces the drug Solaris, has once again declined to accept an invite to Committee hearings.
In a letter to the Committee, Alexion pharmaceuticals said that the presence of an individual manufacturer at a hearing on the “specific issue of pricing… would place inappropriate focus on the detail of individual pricing agreements in Ireland and elsewhere.”
Deputy Buttimer TD points out that, contrary to Alexion’s claims, the appearance of individual drug companies at Committee hearings was not unprecedented. “The Committee is undertaking this body of work on the cost of prescription drugs with open minds, with the goal to hear from all sides on the debate on the cost of drugs. It is unusual that an organisation or company would refuse to attend our meetings. Given the recent focus on the costs of Solaris, produced by Alexion, the Committee regrets that the company has refused to meet with us to place their side of the story on the public record. On behalf of the Committee, I wish to relay our disappointment at these latest developments.”
The meeting will commence at 9:45 am tomorrow Thursday 12 March in Committee Room 2, LH 2000. It will be followed at 11:20 am by a Committee session on pre-legislative scrutiny on the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill (see separate press release).
Committee proceedings can be followed live here.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
paul.hand@oireachtas.ie
Committee Membership:
Deputies: Jerry Buttimer (Chair), Catherine Byrne, Ciara Conway (Vice-Chair), Regina Doherty, Robert Dowds, Peter M Fitzpatrick, Seamus Healy, Billy Kelleher, Eamonn Maloney, Clare Daly, Sandra McLellan, Dan Neville, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and Robert Troy
Senators: Colm Burke, John Crown, John Gilroy, Imelda Henry, Marc Mac Sharry and Jillian Van Turnhout