Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Senator Browne referred to the qualifications issue. Anyone who is registered under the current legislation can continue to practise and I am advised there is no issue regarding their qualifications.

The society, not the Minister, will decide the linguistic competency of an individual. I am sure the society will learn from the experience of other organisations such as An Bord Altranais and so on. International standards apply and our standard is higher than in many other countries.

Citizens of EU member states and EEA countries who are pharmacists must register and they will have a period within which they must fulfil the language competency. Citizens of non-EEA countries will only be registered when they fulfil both the language and qualifications requirements. That will be a matter for the society. I have not discussed this issue with the society but I presume it will inform itself regarding what happens in other organisations such as An Bord Altranais.

Senator Henry made a valid point about how distressing it is to try to establish what is wrong with a loved one when they have lost the power of speech following a stroke and so on. A number of years ago I visited a patient in a Dublin hospital and a Chinese woman was also a patient on the ward. Nobody spoke Chinese and she was clearly very distressed. It was an awful experience to observe this, although the nurses were very helpful and doctors were called but it was impossible. Aside from the need for health care professionals to be competent in English, given that the State is reliant on foreign nurses, more and more patients are from outside the State and some of them cannot communicate in English. This is a major issue and we are trying to be as practical as possible. The HSE provides translation services in certain situations, which is important.

With regard to the dispensing of drugs, I am always amazed pharmacists can read a doctor's prescription. I have not had a clue how to read any prescription I have ever seen. I suspect training will have to be provided to pharmacists on how to read a doctor's handwriting.