Ba mhaith liom ceist a chur ar an Taoiseach faoin mhéid atá i gclár an Rialtais i dtaobh an drugs payment scheme. Tá an clár an-soiléir faoi shaoránaigh mhíchumasacha. The programme for Government is very clear that citizens with disabilities should be supported. Yesterday I attended a briefing in the audiovisual room hosted by Seanadóir Rose Conway-Walsh attended by the parents of three wee boys, William, Cathal and Lewis. We were told the drug Translarna could make a real difference for these children. Five year old Lewis has been eligible for this medication for almost a year but he has not been able to access it as the Health Service Executive is refusing to reimburse the cost. Three year old Cathal, we are told, will lose the use of his legs and may need ventilation to help him breathe, and eventually his heart and lungs will fail.

I thank the Deputy. Is there a question?

William faces a similar fate. In keeping with the Government's commitment in the programme for Government, will the Taoiseach instruct the Minister for Health and the HSE to facilitate the availability of Translarna by agreeing to reimburse the cost and giving these lads a chance to fulfil the potential they have?

The Deputy is well aware neither the Taoiseach nor the Government has the authority to instruct the HSE to approve any drug. The way drugs are reimbursed or not reimbursed is set out very clearly in legislation and it is a matter for the HSE to decide which drugs should be reimbursed and which are not. I understand in the case of Translarna, the HSE has come to the conclusion, based on medical and clinical advice, that there are limitations to the efficacy of the drug and there is also a very high cost. If something is not very effective and also very expensive, in general the HSE will not fund it.

I am aware that Translarna is available in public health systems in approximately 20 or so other countries. I have sought a bit more information on the decision because, as the Deputy knows, it is often the case that we are among the first countries in the world to approve the use of new medicines. That was the case with Orkambi, for example, which is available here and not in Northern Ireland, for example. That is something I ask Deputy Adams to take up with his MLAs in the North.

We have done so. The Taoiseach should note that Translarna is available in the North.

I know, and Orkambi is not. That is the point I am making. I could speak on behalf of people with cystic fibrosis in Northern Ireland and implore the Deputy and his party to use his influence to achieve that.

I will do so. I am sure these parents would be edified by the Taoiseach's partitionist approach to these ailments.

Deputy Adams, please.

There is a further complication with Translarna with the quite unprecedented position that the pharmaceutical company making the drug has taken the Government to court. That is certainly making a solution much harder to find.