Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
87. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he wrote to the Department of Health and the HSE in August 2019 instructing that there should be no further spending on new medicines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12451/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe HSE’s National Service Plan 2019 made provision to fund €10m of new drugs / new indications supported by the invest to save programme. This €10m had been fully committed by the end of June 2019. On July 2nd 2019 the Department of Health informed my department of a potential overrun of some €0.4bn for 2019 and, as a result, I wrote to the Minister of Health on July 5th in this context in order to ascertain what measures could be taken to curb this expenditure challenge and at the very least ensure it was not exacerbated.
It is important to note the funding implications of new drug reimbursement decisions are only marginally addressed in year 1 with the Exchequer financial commitment only being fully realised over a longer period. The Minister of Health has stated that the new drugs introduced in 2019 “represent an additional investment by the HSE over five years of approximately €220m in providing access to new and innovative treatment for Irish patients.”
This is evidenced in the Exchequer’s commitment to total pharmaceutical expenditure which is estimated to be above €2.3bn in 2020. This represents an estimated €0.2bn (8%) increase over 2019 (or a €0.6bn/31% increase over 2014).
