Mr. Dermot Twomey:

I thank the Deputy for that question. Just last year, we did a comprehensive study of community pharmacy across the board. It included not just our members but all pharmacists. We had approximately 1,100 respondents to the study. Several things came out of it. One of these was that at least 50% of pharmacists currently on the register in Ireland qualified abroad, predominantly in the UK. This very much shows us that as a country we are not training enough pharmacists to meet the needs of our population. Since Brexit, because of a number of issues, fewer pharmacists have come back from the UK and this is obviously an issue. Equally, fewer pharmacists are deciding to enter community pharmacy. Again, this is because of some of the points I raised earlier in terms of the bureaucracy and disproportional regulation. It is important, therefore, that we make the job and the career attractive for young pharmacists. We should also try and make it easy, including, as I mentioned earlier, by getting rid of legacy systems. We must also make it easier for non-EU pharmacists to qualify in this jurisdiction. We have seen with other professions how it can happen much faster. Ultimately, however, non-EU pharmacists must be able to get on the register, provided they have appropriate training and qualifications. This process is painfully slow. It is being looked at by our regulator, but it needs to happen much faster.

The Higher Education Authority is also looking at doubling the number of pharmacy places in the next few years. Obviously, however, this will take five or six years, at least, to happen. We think it is very important community pharmacists are empowered to do their job. If we look at the UK, all graduates qualifying there in pharmacy in 2026 will be prescribers. We are so far behind the curve here in that we are talking about minor ailments. My colleague, Dr. O'Dwyer, went into more of the clinical pathways. Even minor ailments and contraception would be a hell of a start, considering the low base we are currently at. Considering as well that Deputy Shortall and I conversed 12 or 13 years ago about managing patients in the community, very little has happened since. We must be ambitious. When we met the Minister in November, he spoke about the need to be disruptive and to look beyond the simple stuff. We must make a start and community pharmacy needs this, as do patients across Ireland.