Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

It will be a very sad day when the pharmacists stop dispensing to medical card holders. The HSE will not sit down with the Irish Pharmacy Union. I ask the Leader to put pressure on the Minister for Health and Children to ensure the HSE talks the issue through with the IPU and finds a resolution. If the executive will not listen to the union or sit down with its members, how can it resolve the dispute? This is an urgent issue. Does the HSE have a contingency plan in place in the event of pharmacists ceasing to dispense to medical card holders? What plans are in place to ensure the most vulnerable in society have their medical needs met? This is a crisis and I ask the Leader to bring the Minister for Health and Children to the House at a very early date to discuss the matter.