Irish drugmakers argue against ESRI Budget Perspectives (2012) proposals

Budget Perspectives 2012, a paper published last week by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), suggests high rates of spending on pharmaceuticals in Ireland could be attributable to the low penetration of generic drugs in the Irish market. According to the report, OECD data shows per capita spending in 2009 on pharmaceuticals in Ireland - at 1.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - was fourth highest among OECD countries after the USA, Canada and Greece.

In Ireland, the supply of medicines to the health services by pharmaceutical companies has been governed by a series of agreements between the State and the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA), on behalf of the international research-based pharmaceutical industry. The current agreement was implemented in September 2006 and will run until March 2012. During its time, it is estimated that it will have delivered savings to the State of over 300 million euros ($416.9 million).

Industry has already provided 95 million euros in savings