The head of the HSE says the rest of the health service will have to suffer because of a decision to pay for expensive drugs for patients with a rare blood disorder.

Tony O'Brien says the cost of the Soliris drug - which costs €430,000 a year for every patient - will mean cuts elsewhere in the health service.

The drug is used to treat rare genetic conditions - paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) and aTypical Haemolytic Uraemic (aHUS).

The HSE last week agreed to pay the cost of the drug for a small number of patients. Due to the cost of the drug, it will be administered to sufferers based on their clinical need.

The HSE has described the price tag for the drug as astronomical - and it has appealed to the manufacturers Alexion to reduce the cost of supplying Soliris.

Tony O'Brien says the HSE is still working to lower the cost of the drug:

The HSE's Director General also says the number of patients who are well enough to leave hospital, but who have nowhere to go, has increased - despite extra money being spent on the problem.

Speaking at the Joint Committee on Health and Children. he said the number of so-called delayed discharges has risen by about 60% in the last few months.

That is despite the government offering extra money to open so-called 'step down' beds, and places in nursing homes, in order to free up beds in hospitals.

Mr O'Brien says the problem is making it tough to deal with the crisis levels of overcrowding: