Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As we have been discussing, the purpose of section 15 is to ensure requirements regarding generic substitution do not affect a pharmacist's discretion not to dispense a medicinal product. As drafted, the section is explicit in its expectation that the pharmacist's professional opinion will inform the decision to dispense on the grounds of the health of the patient. However, in practice, under the current regulatory regime, one of the most common situations where a pharmacist might refuse to dispense a prescription is where the pharmacist has a concern that the person presenting the prescription may be planning to sell or supply the medicines to other individuals or on the street. In this case, the pharmacist would usually refuse to dispense the prescription, not necessarily on the basis of a concern for the health of the person named on the prescription but on the basis of concern for the safety of others and the integrity of the supply chain.

The pharmacy regulator, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, expressed concern that the scope of section 15 ought to be broadened to explicitly provide that a pharmacist would not dispense a prescription if he or she had a genuine concern that dispensing the prescription might put others at risk. I am, therefore, proposing to amend the section to broaden its scope to take into account the obligation of the pharmacist not to dispense a medicine included in a prescription on the basis that it may cause harm to the health of the patient named on the prescription or the health and safety of any member of the public.