Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Yes. People are talking about €1 million. That practice is profoundly unhealthy and should be prohibited. If it is allowed to occur outside large urban areas, such as in Mallow, Mitchelstown, my home town of Athy or Dingle, which has a single health centre, it would threaten the existence of other pharmacies and would be anti-competitive and unfair. People should have a choice. For good or ill, all our health services have been based on choice, but to allow a single pharmacy that sort of physical monopoly is to do the opposite.

This difficult matter, in respect of which I have proposed a six-page amendment, must be confronted. If it is not, there will be serious issues regarding how pharmacy will develop as a practice, that is, it will become a monopoly within health centres. We could discuss other matters, but I will deal with them on Committee Stage.