David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will make a few points on this section. I welcome what this section does. It is important to reiterate what the Bill does and does not do. It does give clarity as to the professions that may administer medical products but it states very clearly that it does not confer new powers or scope of practice on any profession. It is important to make that point.

I support what the Bill intends to do. On Second Stage, in a discussion with the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, I welcomed some of the advances made in pharmacy and the role of pharmacists in recent months. Their being able to extend a prescription for 12 months is really important as it makes repeat prescriptions a reality. That will be beneficial to patients and pharmacists and will also take pressure off GPs. I fully support that. However, there is an awful lot more that can be done. The Minister of State may know that the Irish Pharmacy Union has campaigned for some of these measures for a long time as well as many more measures, including what it calls a "pharmacy first" model and a minor ailment scheme. Where are things in that regard? There was some talk that funding for a minor ailments scheme would be provided for in budget 2024. That obviously did not happen and it may have been a casualty of the lack of funding for new measures in budget 2024. If we look at the network of community pharmacists we have, there are a number of pharmacists in almost every town and village. I strongly believe they could play a much greater role in taking pressure away from GPs. The fact some moves have been made in recent times proves that point.

Yesterday, in my contribution on a Dáil motion Sinn Féin proposed on this issue and similar issues, I said that we have to look at primary care and community care services as a way to take pressure from our acute hospitals. Unfortunately, if we look at the attendance in many of our emergency departments, many people are not in the right place or getting the right care and they are in the emergency departments because the alternative care pathways do not exist. It still amazes me that in major urban areas we do not have 24-7 pharmacy available. It strikes me as bizarre that this service is still not available in the 21st century. We are still way behind other European countries as regards the role of pharmacists, particularly in the area of minor ailments. If we were to expand community pharmacy, it would do a number of things. It would take pressure off GPs who are being asked to do an awful lot more and need to do more in and of themselves to take pressure away from hospitals. It would also play a role in and of itself to take pressure away from hospitals.

Is the Government committed to a minor ailment scheme being rolled out by pharmacists? Where is that commitment? Has any funding been made available, or does funding need to be made available, to make that a reality? I understand there was a working group but I do not know whether it has reported with recommendations in this area.