Ms Kathy Maher:

As a practising pharmacist I sometimes find it difficult when I have a patient in front of me and I do not know whether they will be approved for the medicine prescribed for them on that day. I would love a system where we have real-time eligibility. As Dr. O'Dwyer has spoken about, when we really get e-prescribing and move further along that digital pathway, we can have a system where I will know if a patient standing in front of me with a prescription is eligible for that medicine under a State drugs scheme. We have to reach a point where we reimburse fairly as a sector and as a profession. Mr. Twomey earlier alluded to our fees being reduced by 21% since 2008. We have not had a fee increase; we have had a fee reduction. The average fee for dispensing per item was around €6 in 2008. The average fee now sits at around €4.74. To enable us to deliver all we can and all we have spoken about today, and to enable our future vision for pharmacy and subsequent positive patient outcomes, we need to make sure we are fairly remunerated as a sector and as a profession. We are committed to engaging with the Minister and the Department of Health. They must review our fees by the end of June 2023. We are ready, willing and able to have that engagement and conversation with the Department.