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

I may consider an amendment on Report Stage, although this may not be technically possible. I refer to section 14(1)(f) of the Pharmacy Act 2007, under which a bankrupt will be removed from the register of pharmacists. Is this absolutely necessary? While one may be bankrupt, it is not a corollary that one is incapable of dispensing medicines or seeking employment with another pharmacist. Why is it necessary to strike an individual off the register as a result of bankruptcy? A pharmacist will have spent seven years in college to earn his or her qualifications but his or her business may go pear-shaped. Why should a pharmacist lose the right to practise if declared bankrupt?

I want to examine the matter in the context of tabling an amendment to deal with the specific issue under section 32 and in view of the fact that the Minister of State referred to the Pharmacy Act 2007. It strikes me as bizarre. I presume that if a GP is declared bankrupt he or she is not struck off a register. Does it happen to a dentist? If a nurse goes bankrupt is he or she struck off the register of nurses?