Shane Ross (Independent)

The Minister of State addressed some of the points we raised and I appreciate that he departed from his script. I thank him for that. What about the point Senator Buttimer made, that at least the Minister's officials should talk to the pharmacists? The pharmacists are willing both to make concessions and to talk. One of the reasons they are offering to talk is to settle the difference between the calculations they have made and those worked out by the Department about how much it will cost each pharmacy per annum to implement the proposed cuts. If that happens we will understand how many of them will go bust.

The Minister and the Government appear to be condemning those who have quite reasonably borrowed on the basis of current margins to invest in their companies. The Minister is possibly imposing bankruptcy or liquidation on them. Let the parties at least talk so the Minister can see their point of view and they can see her figures. That matter could be resolved without anything being done at all. As a first premise the parties should be talking about exactly the same figures.