Last week, I was at a conference with the Minister and the EU Commissioner. We discussed various topics, including healthcare and the development of a life science strategy in Ireland. I know it is something that he and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, have worked intensively on. We met with people in healthcare, pharmaceuticals and industry, as well as patient advocates. There will be an important meeting of the HSE drugs group next Tuesday, which will discuss Skyclarys, and recommend it, hopefully, for approval for reimbursement. I do not expect the Minister to intervene or comment on that specific case, and we have to respect the process, but I am sure the Minister will agree that as part of a wider strategy, we need to inculcate that wider ecosystem where patients get access to this care upfront and early access to drugs, where needed. I am sure the last thing we will be encouraging here is more cohorts of patients having to come and bare their soul, either in the audiovisual room or outside the gates of Leinster House. I am sure he will agree that this needs to change.

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this very important issue. We need to support families and patients who have rare conditions. I know the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has significantly enhanced the approval process through the Health Products Regulatory Authority. More work is being carried out and a tender process is ongoing in that regard.

One in every eight euro we spend in the State is on medicines. We have increased our spend very significantly but we have more to do, particularly in relation to rare diseases. The work in our strategy sets out very clearly where we want to get to. I thank Deputy O’Sullivan and his colleagues for the work he is doing highlighting this very important issue for some very vulnerable people.