Enda Kenny: Government has ‘no say’ on funding cystic fibrosis drug

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has denied that the Government has a say on whether a groundbreaking drug for cystic fibrosis sufferers can be paid for, as he said it was a matter for health chiefs.

Decisions on whether new life-enhancing medicines could be subsidised under the HSE’s spending next year were not political or made by ministers, he told the Dáil.

Mr Kenny could not say yet whether the health budget would also cover an estimated €90m cost for an EU-approved drug called Orkambi which is changing the lives of CF patients.