Under the current agreement between the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association and the Department of Health and Children "The Department of Health reserves the right to seek cost benefit studies for any new chemical entity introduced to Ireland on or after August 1997 and to raise these in discussions with the Association" (IPHA/Dept. of Health Agreement 1997). Consequently the Department of Health and Children may request a pharmacoeconomic submission to be made by the pharmaceutical company to the NCPE. To aid this process, the NCPE and the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) have produced a set of Health Care Technology Assessment Guidelines which detail the data required in such a submission and the method for pharmacoeconomic analyses.