Mr. Dermot Twomey:

There are a number of points here. One of the key things is that the job and role of community pharmacy must remain attractive for community pharmacists and their teams - the technicians and people who want to work in community pharmacy. It is a very rewarding role. However, as I mentioned earlier, unfortunately the job is being underpinned by an enormous amount of bureaucracy, paperwork and rules. Young community pharmacists are voting with their feet and deciding that it is not for them in the long term. Ultimately the Irish Pharmacy Union, as an organisation, in collaboration with the Department and the HSE, wants to ensure that money is used in the correct proportion based on the budget. However, we need to move forward with some of the legacy systems that are there and make the role much more attractive and easier so that people are not coming home stressed from working in community pharmacy.

As we said earlier, it is important that we train more graduates. Currently we are not training a sufficient number. More than 50% of those on the current register trained in the UK. That is something the Higher Education Authority is looking at. Ultimately it is about expanding the scope of practice and allowing pharmacists to do more with their clinical judgment. That is what young pharmacists tell us they want to do, reducing the bureaucracy while understanding there is a fiduciary responsibility from the State. Ultimately the public vote with their feet by coming to us. They consistently identify us as one of the most trusted professions. They want us to do more. We need to remove the blockages and move things forward.