Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to get to the bottom of an issue. Mr. O'Mahony said that a company would apply for a drug to be changed from having a prescription-only to an over-the-counter classification. In the interests of being proactive, is it not within the remit of the IMB to say that medicine X or medicine Y could be available over the counter? I was not trying to be facetious earlier when I spoke about lipstick and nail varnish products but the difficulty is that most people who go to a pharmacy to get medication must have a prescription in their back pocket. That is the reality of life. People have to go to the doctor to get a prescription for almost everything. I am speaking from my experience as a parent and of what I have seen when I have gone abroad to other countries. It is possible to buy some medicines in other civilised countries around the world that are not available on a prescription-only basis but it seems the difficulty here is that there is very little delisting of products. We must compare practices here with those in general in the UK, with which we have a border, as well as similar set-ups in the delivery of health care. There seems to be a very slow move towards the delisting and supply of over-the-counter medicines. That is my concern. Mr. O'Mahony will know that if I want to buy medication that is priced at €7 or €8, which is available over the counter in other countries, it will cost me €62 because I will have to go to a GP to get a prescription for the medication and pay him €55. That is the reality. We have the new pharmacy Act, computer software data and various systems available but the Department seems incapable in terms of general health policy in that pharmacists play no role in this respect other than in the dispensing of medication. That resource is under-utilised. These are highly professionally qualified and capable people. The IMB has a role in this respect in terms of pushing for the availability of over-the-counter products. Why would a company not want to have its product available over the counter? It beggars belief that a company would say it would prefer its product to be available on a prescription-only basis. That would surely limit its market availability.