I note the Minister for Health is also present. I raise with him an article published in The Irish Times this morning about the possible cutting of funding for new drugs in the budget. I do not expect the Minister to reveal the budget here and I know negotiations are still ongoing. However, a number of us have been contacted by stakeholders and patients' groups about their concerns leading up to the budget. It is right that we highlight this here today in advance of the budget next week. We are a hub for biopharma and innovation in this field and any such move would be a retrograde step and would halt the progress that has been made, to be fair to the Minister, over the past three years, in providing new moneys for drugs. I just wanted to highlight the issue.

I thank the Deputy and recognise his ongoing work in this area in ensuring we have new medicines, particularly for rare diseases. I met with the industry representatives' group and made a point that I think is well known, which is that funding for new developments in healthcare is a matter for the budget and is an ongoing conversation.

No decisions have been made but there is a lot of pressure there. Notwithstanding that, in this year's spend, there is about €100 million in spending on new medicines that have come in over the past three budgets, and that is making new medicines available for a lot of children and adults throughout the country.