Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris. I thank Deputy Tóibín for raising this important matter.

The Minister for Health values the important role community pharmacists play in the health service in the delivery of holistic patient care. The Minister is obliged, before the end of this year, to put in place a new framework to maintain a statutory basis for contractor fees as the existing regulations will be revoked from the end of this year, in accordance with the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017. Prior to the making of new regulations, the Minister for Health is required to consult the representative body for pharmacy contractors, the IPU. To that end, engagement between the Minister, the Department of Health and the IPU has to date been consultative in nature. Department officials wrote to the IPU on 10 October inviting it to discussions on the making of the new regulations. Subsequently, meetings were held in the Department on 24 October and 7 November, following which a detailed submission was received from the IPU. The consultation process has now concluded.

The Minister, Deputy Harris, met the IPU on 5 December and indicated his intention to commence a substantial review of the pharmacy contract in 2020. In this context, the Minister also communicated his intention to maintain the current fee structure from 1 January 2020. The comprehensive review of the pharmacy contract in 2020 will address the role to be played by community pharmacy in the context of Sláintecare. It will consider all aspects of pharmacy service provision, including delivery of a multidisciplinary model of service delivery for patients, ensuring clarity of roles and achieving optimum value for money. However, any publicly funded pharmacy service expansion should address unmet public healthcare needs, improve access to existing public health services or provide better value for money or patient outcomes. Accordingly, any measures to be considered must be evidence based.

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