Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While it is not contained in the wording of Deputy Billy Kelleher's amendments and in order to guarantee the full dissemination of information, the IPU and the IMO should also be informed of any change. These are normal steps which should be taken in this regard. I have no particular knowledge of the extent of items being added to or deleted from the reimbursement list. However, I am well aware that many medical card holders were seriously discommoded when the decision to remove from the list all coeliac targeted products - that is, those which are gluten free - was taken last year. It is all very well to state it was cheaper for those who did not have medical cards to purchase such products in supermarkets, but what was done had an extremely serious impact on medical card holders in straitened circumstances in accessing gluten free products. The consequence has been that many pharmacies with which I am familiar have significantly reduced the number of such products they stock. The products to which I refer were sold in pharmacies for a purpose. I accept that they may not appear on the shelves of pharmacies in the future and that supermarkets may corner this part of the market. However, the decision to which I refer is continuing to have a serious impact on coeliacs throughout the country.

This is one of the footprints in time of our very being as a people. This is a very serious matter and it is most regrettable that the Government did not accept the arguments to the effect that it should not have proceeded with the change to which I refer. I instance this matter only to illustrate what can happen. I suggest, not through a further amendment but rather in the context of the common sense of what Deputy Billy Kelleher is arguing for, the IPU and the IMO be included.