Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I welcome Deputy Reilly's statement that he does not condone the action of the pharmacists. Most people would support that view.

Methadone users are a very vulnerable group of patients and the HSE has had to put a contingency service in place very quickly. The feedback I have received from a number of people has been positive. The service is not as good as that provided by pharmacies, which are much more accessible, but the HSE has done its best, in the circumstances, to provide a facility. I am not familiar with the details of all 13 centres but I will draw the attention of the HSE to the Deputy's concerns, particularly with regard to Dublin North.

The Government does not have responsibility for the Competition Authority. We are governed by European as well as Irish competition law. This morning, I heard a reference to changing the Irish Competition Act. When the HSE was negotiating a wholesale margin, the wholesalers produced legal advice that negotiation with the HSE contravened competition law. It was the wholesalers who first brought our attention to the fact that negotiating with a group such as pharmacists — this will subsequently apply to dentists and other professions — is in breach of Irish and European competition law and amounts to cartel behaviour. It is equally the case that people cannot act as a group to prevent a service in a market. These are matters for the Competition Authority, not the HSE or me.

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