Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I refer to an issue I raised before the summer regarding Tagrisso, a drug for lung cancer treatment, about which I have been engaging with the HSE over the last number of months. The HSE indicated to us after a meeting on 9 July that it would try to fund it at the latter end of this year. The HSE has now confirmed that there is no money there for it. This is a drug that would make great difference to people who have lung cancer and it is urgently needed. We are now told it is going to have to wait until 2020, like everything else in the HSE. There is going to be some magic formula in 2020. I ask the Minister to ask his colleague, the Minister for Health, to intervene urgently because I believe it is a very small number of patients who urgently need this drug treatment in 2019.

The briefing I have is that this year there are 29 new medicines and 29 new indications that have been committed to at a cost of €220 million, and that 3,000 patients will benefit. That has committed the allocation for 2019 for new drugs so it probably does await budgetary consideration of how that scheme can be extended into the future. That is the information I have here but I will convey the Deputy's concern to the relevant Minister.