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IRELAND’S MULTI-BILLION EURO pharmaceutical export industry could be facing a serious crisis because of a series of patents that are due to expire.
Chris van Egeraat, lecturer of economic geography at NUI Maynooth, estimated that about €19 billion worth of Irish exports could be at risk as a result of patents expiring. Van Egeraat told Bloomberg: “From the moment they come off patent, it will be immediately reflected in export figures.”
The fall-off in exports could account for a 52 per cent drop in sales by 2013, according to Bloomberg.
According to PharmaChemical Ireland, Ireland is the largest net exporter of pharmaceuticals and medical products in the world – with the country’s pharmaceutical industry currently generating 50 per cent of the total amount of the nation’s exports.
Eight of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies have Irish facilities.
Pfizer’s cholesterol-fighting drug Lipitor is the first product due to expire, with the deadline marked for the end of this month. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is planning to sell the drug at generic prices directly to customers once the patent runs out.
Video uploaded PharmaChemcial via YouTube
Sinn Fein are not so quick to answer questions about ink cartridges themselves
People in glasshouses can’t throw stones or petrol bombs or whatever SF are into nowadays
What’s your point? They are elected representatives and are entitled to ask what they want. The war is over, get over it!
Very rich for Sinn Fein to be taking the moral high ground on issues of justice.
God forbid the opposition asks a few questions :O
67 is hardly a few
Don’t think that’s the point – yet another example of fine Gael acting in a condescending dismissive manner – did u see phil hogan last night smirking and saying it was typically Irish that we were waiting until the last minute to pay the household charge – this gov is not living in the reall world. To dismiss Sinn Fein like the above posters have done due to their history is petty and unproductive. Open your eyes people.
The househd tax like it or not is now a law of the land. Sinn however continue with their historic indifference to the laws of the land. They are not calling for a boycott of council tax on the north though…
Agree. Same old smart Alec Greek chorus whenever SF raises an issue. Idiots.
I am dismissing Jonathan and Sinn fein due to the fact of something a friend of mine witnessed in the not so distant past. So spare me the tags please.
I agree Brian. Regardless of the content and actual point of the article, we have the typical snipes from FG/FFers. The beginning point from their posts is to patronise/put down/dismiss and blatantly bad mouth SF! Why because it’s easy to post the same crappy comments over and over again to make themselves feel superior. Typical party tactics.
On a side note, a comment about the article. The point I would like to raise is that shatter deems these request unworthy to answer, of course the prison system falls under his umbrella. His power has gone to his head since he won one over in the judges! I would expect him to answer if FF had asked! Why not SF!
I thought Jonathan and his crew would know plenty about the justice system at this stage?
Is a Sinn Fein Justice spokesperson not a contradiction of itself?
Sinn fein now look like a well resourced party judging by the quality and volume of questions being submitted. A big change coming in the make up of the next fail on the cards?
dail not fail. Danny predictive text
A ‘fraudulant’ slip perhaps?
Steve, I am sure you meant Freud rather than Fraud (at least I hope you did) Even my correction got invaded by the predective text! The joys of rushing for a bus!
I remember someone in the last Dail saying asking questions of the government was like playing handball against a haystack….
Also, whilst I’m not a Sinn Fein supporter, they are democratically elected representatives, and are entitled to answers to their questions as much as any other representatives.
Whilst not a Sinn Fein supporter I welcome the opposition, Fianna Fail are morally bankrupt, Labour have become the new Green Party and the Independents have no clout. What is the point in letting Sinn Fein run in elections if their past is the only response they are given to sometime valid points. It’s quite like Fine Gaels’ response on every issue, ‘well that was Fianna Fail’s’ fault’, we are where we are, now do some fecking work for your pensions!
so if 67 citizens of this country wrote to the ministers dept and each asked one question it “would require the allocation and expenditure of a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and effort”…..yep, sounds like the dik tat we have voted in
This would take up a ridiculous amount of time. Fair eneough if they were questions which just required a simple answer.
for the simple citizens eh James???????………
So it should only be simple questions asked in the Dáil rathrt than ones that are about exposing the rot, waste and corruption in this state. Problem is that not enough questions were asked over the last 50 years.
You can ask the “What is you favourite member of One Direction, Alan?” questions if you like, but the Minister is there to work.
Shatter’s response basically says “I can’t be arsed, so feck off would ya?”
While I do think that Shatters response was reasonable, there is a point around the amount of resources used in depts preparing answers to parlimentary q’s. There has to be a better more efficient model that doesnt use so many civil servants at enourmous cost.
His justification for submitting so many questions doesn’t really stack up. It looks like a political stunt, to be honest.
It sounds a bit like someone got his homework in at the last minute.
Is there a list of the questions somewhere that we can read?
Found it
Talk about drowning the Dept in paper!
Does he really need to ask so many questions? Wouldn’t a bit more thought and editing enable him to ask less but more useful questions? The only thing most citizens want to know about the prison service is why there aren’t more places within it to hold prisoners.
As Stephen Donnelly pointed out, this Govt. have a major problem with being held accountable.
It was ever thus with FG, the get in and the arrogance comes out and the piss off the electorate and they are out again after one term. After 80 years of this, is it not time to look in the mirror and ask “is is me?”.
I can’t believe a shinner is questioning anybody’s accountability
have your say