I want to raise with the Tánaiste today the need for oral immunotherapy treatment for children with peanut allergies. It is an issue I have raised here previously. The potentially lifesaving drug for children in those circumstances, Palforzia, is currently not available. Could the Tánaiste's good offices help to progress the situation? While the drug is unapproved, the current advice is for children to carry an EpiPen. That is fine but if one does not have an EpiPen the consequences could be tragic. That approach is like an airline asking someone to carry a parachute rather than doing the safety checks. It is not the best approach. That drug would be really important. I have spoken to numerous parents who are very worried that their children may find themselves unexpectedly exposed to peanuts and subject to an attack without an EpiPen being available. It is very important for the Tánaiste to progress it.

I thank Deputy Griffin very much for raising the issue. We are fully in support of a preventative approach, as the Deputy set out. I will pick it up with the Department and see where it is at in terms of whether the company has applied, whether the health technology assessment has been done and the view of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics on whether those things have been done in terms of funding and I will ask it to revert directly to the Deputy.