Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

A lot of the discussion among pharmacists concerns the volume of administration and paper-based work they must do. We had a debate last week – I brought this issue up in my budget discussions - about the move towards electronic health records and, more generally, towards an e-health model.

We need to see that in the pharmacy sector as well. Pharmacists operate in a private retail environment but I am talking about the public side of their model. We cannot just say they will always get a few bob from selling deodorants, packages, non-prescription medications and all the rest, because that is not necessarily a given. They are competing with others. I see very many over-the-counter medications in the aisle of the supermarket and I can look past look past a pharmacist's till at those same medications. Is it right that they are being sold in a supermarket and a pharmacist's at the same time? There are threats on the private retail side as well. We have a great opportunity to move forward positively because pharmacists can unlock care in the community that could ease pressure on GPs. That is where I am coming from in this area.

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