Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I do not expect anyone to do business with somebody who will charge them more than they will get. Any pharmacist who is charged more at the end of the month should contact the HSE and the manufacturers and that will be sorted out. Of that I am certain.

What we are talking about is getting a fairer deal for taxpayers and a fairer deal for patients and, hopefully, we can move very quickly into negotiating under Mr. Shipsey, or a process like that, a new contract that develops the role of pharmacist in our health care system. That is something I and the Government want to see happen. When that happens it will be priced independently. In the meantime, as a temporary measure, €5 is being offered as a base fee for dispensing which is an increase of 70% over the current fee of €3.26. The Sean Dorgan process has been put in place. It includes Sean Dorgan, a well respected former Secretary General of two Departments and a director general of the IDA; Mark Moran, former chief executive of the Mater Private Hospital, who worked in the pharmaceutical industry; and Mary O'Dea, the director of consumer affairs with IFSRA, three highly respected independent people. We have put no limit on what they can recommend. We have further said, subject to Government approval, that whatever they recommend will be backdated to 1 March. That process was put in place after a meeting I held with the IPU this day two weeks ago, because it considered there was a necessity to have an independent process look at the dispensing fee. We have that process in place. It has had its first meeting and will be advertising for submissions and will be meeting the various groups. It is a matter for those groups to put, as forcefully as they can, to those independent persons their views on how pharmacists are to be paid a decent return for the service they provide.

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