Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As I indicated to the Deputy earlier, I will certainly discuss the issues he raised with the PCRS. One of the drawbacks I foresee, and to which the Deputy alluded, to be fair to him, is the question of which pharmacist to use. The Deputy helpfully suggests it would perhaps be the most recent pharmacist, but it is not necessarily always the case that the most recent pharmacist a person has seen is their usual pharmacist. While I am being slightly speculative, it might very quickly draw the system into having to then notify a multiplicity of pharmacists in respect of one individual, which would obviously be problematic.

The differences I outlined earlier between the pharmacists and the GP are that the GP has a set list and tends to know his or her patients over a period of time. I had a very interesting meeting yesterday with the Irish Pharmacy Union. It makes the point that community pharmacy is very important in our system, and I agree with that. The pharmacists are close to many of the people they see and they very often know their needs. We want to integrate and make sure that the pharmacy profession and pharmacists do that kind of work and have that relationship with their patients, as I know they already do and are anxious to have.

For all of those reasons, I will certainly take seriously what the Deputy has proposed. It is not without complication administratively, I would have thought, but we will have a look at what he is saying.

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