Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, is the competent authority for the regulation of medicines in Ireland. Under the Medicinal Products (Prescription and Control of Supply) Regulations 2003, as amended, the mail order supply of prescription medicines is prohibited. The HPRA, in co-operation with Revenue’s Customs service, in the period 2011 to 2014, seized a total of 2,577 tablets containing the medicines in question in 138 importations. I am arranging to provide the breakdown by year for the Deputy.

There are significant public health concerns associated with the purchase of prescription medicines over the Internet. There is no guarantee as to the safety, quality or efficacy of medicines purchased online. Medicines purchased in this manner are often found to be counterfeit and-or with inaccurate labelling or product information. In addition, any prescription medicine should be taken by a patient only when it has been prescribed for him or her by his or her medical practitioner or other appropriate health professional who has taken his or her medical history into account.

It is illegal to procure an abortion in Ireland outside of the circumstances specified in the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 which regulates access to lawful termination of pregnancy in accordance with the X case and the judgment in the European Court of Human Rights in the A, B and Cv. Ireland case.

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