Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I will have to tell the Minister again.

Tallaght, so I declare my interest, is the home of significant pharmaceutical wholesalers, concerned about jobs and job security.

I am also concerned about local pharmacies. It is important we support them and understand their difficulties. People are concerned about the services they are providing. In Springfield, Tallaght, where I live, the three local pharmacists are under pressure on this issue.

This House has assisted in overcoming many difficulties by telling people they need to talk and negotiate. It is important such a message emerges from this debate. The pharmacies dispute needs to be negotiated to the end.

I am not going to get involved in the argument of the Joint Committee on Health and Children of which I am a proud member. Under Deputy Moloney's chairmanship, we tried to deal with the issue in a non-political way. Unlike other colleagues, I accept some politics has to go on and Members must make reputations for themselves. I hope they continue with this and do not end up in the Seanad, which sometimes happens to party spokespersons on health.

It is important the work of the committee is acknowledged. I am chairman of the Fianna Fáil policy group. I can look Deputy Reilly in the eye and admit most of my party colleagues have concerns about this issue. The Minister for Health and Children knows that and is not unhappy if I express that. I am not getting involved in HSE-bashing because it has a job to do. It is important, however, for it to outline its views and give assurances in this dispute. Constituents in Tallaght have told me they are concerned about the future of their local pharmacies. They want access to not only the medicines they require but to the care and attention given to them by their pharmacists. That is why I do not want to go Tesco to buy the few tablets I need. I want to go to my local pharmacist.

Not to be parochial about my constituency, but there are communities in Tallaght in which pharmacists need help to survive. I have had many discussions with the Minister for Health and Children on ensuring all communities have a pharmacist. Fettercairn in Tallaght, a local authority estate of more than 6,000 people, has no pharmacy facilities. There are communities — I do not want to single them out as disadvantaged — where pharmacists find it more difficult to survive than the larger stores. All Members from urban and rural communities are finding the same challenges in this matter.

I am not getting into the argument of whether there needed to be a division on this matter rather than just statements. I am sure all Members on this side would walk behind the Minister through the lobby. To say otherwise is just nonsense. The Minister cares about this issue. However, it is important she understands we cannot abandon patients, communities and people depending on us to continue to make the point. Whether it was a right decision to choose 1 March as the date for the changes, that is another day's work. If another date had been chosen, we would probably have had the same challenges.

This is a live issue which people are talking about. I do not yet know if Joe Duffy is going to talk about it but it is important, even at this late stage, to try to find a solution.

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