Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as seo a chur chun críche. It is good news for community pharmacists but in particular, it is good news for the community. That is one of the key points. For far too long, highly qualified medical practitioners were not allowed practise to the best of their abilities. These are some of the small changes that can be taken to recognise how highly qualified, informed and vital they are to the community. Each of us will know from our own family of people who have gone to the pharmacists and identified a problem of which they were not aware or they have helped them in emergencies and pointed them in the right direction or to the need for a change in medication.

This is a recognition of their vital role in the future. My colleague and the Minister mentioned GPs. This will hopefully relieve some of the pressure on GPs but a lot more can happen in this regard and there needs to be greater synergy between the two professions to ensure that it works better than it has. At the moment, a GP will prescribe medication but patients have to keep going back if it is a repeat prescription. The pharmacist can now take that on board but patients still have to get the agreement of the GP. When they ring the GP, there is a cost to them and that is one of the blockages as it can be hugely costly. Even for just a phone call to a GP practice, it is still €20 or €25 to send the prescription to the pharmacist. It is a press of a button for a repeat prescription and there is no need to see the doctor in most cases. The doctor will call patients in once a year or once every two years, depending on what the medication is. That type of blockage and cost to those who need medication needs to be lifted.

I welcome the change that was announced, although I do not have the exact details, to deal with unwanted and unused medication. We have all dealt with family members who have passed and you go into the cupboard and there are hundreds of pieces of medicine that have never been used. The worst thing is we still have not found a way of utilising those thousands of euro worth of medication. It just sits in the press when a person has passed and it is of no use. Even now, if is brought back to the community pharmacy but it will go to landfill, incineration or whatever will happen. The problem is that some of this has not been touched and the seals are in place along with everything else. There has to be a way to use them because of the cost, most of which is to the Exchequer and to the patient themselves. This is a waste of money. It might addressed the issue of overprescribing but it is not just that. Sometimes people forget to take their medicine on a regular basis.

I welcome the agreement. Hopefully, over the next while, we will be able to address the small, practical changes that can happen to make life easier for those who have that interaction with either the GP or the pharmacist. Pharmacists are one of the most trusted medical professions there are. They are always very jolly in any of the pharmacies I go into and happy to help and direct me to the right place. They are happy to share their advice at no cost most of the time because people just go in to have a chat. I wish all the GPs could do the same but they are run off their feet, in most cases. Well done on introducing it at long last but now we have to do all the rest of the work.

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