Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 5 March 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children

Cost of Prescription Drugs: Discussion

9:30 am

Mr. Shane O'Sullivan:

If a generic is available and on the interchangeable list, that is what we will dispense. The legislation enables us to do this, which is great for our model. Most of the prices quoted in the presentation are for generic drugs.

Deputy Seamus Healy asked whether it was too good to be true. It is not too good to be true. People are voting with their feet. We signed up 10,000 people in one year. We have taken great time to develop the model and examined the prices of drugs in other countries. The membership fee allows us to add services and give value to our customers. The fee will not increase, but it allows us to innovate and introduce services such as house calls and home deliveries. There are restrictions to home deliveries. We offer four free deliveries a year as part of the membership fee. After that, it is €5 per delivery. Customers pay it every month and it does not seem to be a problem.