There was very good news today for 35 children in the State who live with cystic fibrosis. The families and Cystic Fibrosis Ireland have fought very hard on the injustice of these 35 children not having access to certain drugs. There are huge lessons to be learned, not only with regard to reimbursement but also around companies like Vertex International, the pharmaceutical company that is based in Dublin. This company has made a grotesque amount of profit, particularly on this drug. These profits run not into millions but billions of euro. The lesson must be learned as to why these companies have governments and, more importantly, families over a barrel with regard to accessing these drugs. What lessons are to be learned considering that we have a huge pharmaceutical industry in Ireland?

There probably are lessons to be learned. The Deputy may be aware of a recently published report that was commissioned by the Department of Health on a reimbursement system and how it might be improved. Fundamentally, though, there is a real difficulty when a single company develops a new product and new medicine, and it is the only product. That company develops and manufactures it and very often holds the cards. Some people take the view, and the Deputy may take this view, that the Government should just copy it and produce the medicines itself.

I did not say that.

In fairness, the Deputy is not saying that. That is the underlying problem; if a single company develops a medicine that it manufactures and controls, it tends to hold a lot of the cards when it comes to negotiating the price.