Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has agreed to speed up the medicines approval process. Photograph: Sam Boal/CollinsMinister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has agreed to reform the medicines approval process to make new drugs available more quickly to Irish patients. “This marked the first time a Minister for Health confirmed a policy commitment to achieving the timelines in the 2013 legislation and is now the basis for this new agreement,” Ipha said. The State spends about €3.3 billion a year on medicines, accounting for just over 13 per cent of overall health spending. The two sides said they would work to complete the final wording of the four-year agreement on medicine pricing and supply over the next months.

Source: The Irish Times January 21, 2026 11:42 UTC