Mr. Dermot Twomey:

I thank the Deputy for the question. In terms of medicine shortages, one of the measures that has worked in other jurisdictions is the serious shortage protocol. Ultimately, as the Deputy outlined, it is about getting timely access to the medicine for patients when they need it. What we are looking for is similar to that which is in place in other jurisdictions, whereby the pharmacist would make - according to certain protocols and guidelines - a switch from one therapeutic molecule to another when a particular molecule is in short supply. The Deputy is 100% correct. It is not just a Christmas or winter issue. It is present all year. We are seeing that with many molecules at the moment. It was particularly highlighted during the recent respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, and influenza infections and that issue came to light. To answer the specific question, what we are looking for is that pharmacists would be empowered to make a clinical decision in their practice to switch from a particular molecule, such as to molecule B where molecule A or product A is not available, without recourse to the prescriber. This could be worked through protocols that can be developed. For example-----