Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I welcome what the Deputy said on behalf of his party and I share his view. As the Deputy is aware, this legal advice came to hand as a result of the negotiations that had begun with the wholesalers. The intention, always, was to negotiate and we respect bodies that organise around trade unions and have always dealt with organisations on that basis. Clearly, we cannot breach Irish competition law or EU law and that is why the Shipsey process was put in place.

I understand there was a very good meeting last night between lawyers representing the IPU and the HSE, respectively. I hope that as a result we are in a position to put a framework in place to resolve the outstanding issues. There are a number of issues to be considered, one of which is the nature of the contract. I am a strong fan of incentivising contract holders, whether they are pharmacists, general practitioners or dentists, towards providing a wider range of services, working longer hours and so on. These are all matters for discussion, and medication management is also important.

As the Deputy is aware we are trying to achieve a number of goals. One is value for money and greater efficiency. Our drugs bill has gone up by 373% in recent years, or 2.5 times greater than the rate of inflation. We are not reducing the wholesale margin gradually. It is being reduced from 1 December to 8% and to 7% from 2009. These margin percentages are in line with what is being paid in other countries. We want to separate from the commodity price the professional or dispensing fee paid for the professional services of the pharmacist. We also want to ensure that there is fair return. I am a strong fan of entrepreneurship and as pharmacists are entrepreneurs we want to see their efforts rewarded. There are a number of legal mechanisms through which prices can be established, one of which is an arbitration system. These matters are being explored by me in consultation with the HSE and the Attorney General.

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