Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

An issue that has arisen recently and which was brought into focus at a demonstration this morning on Dawson Street is that of trainee pharmacists. Since 2015, trainee pharmacists in Ireland are required to complete a five-year integrated Master's programme with one of the three accredited pharmacy schools - UCC, Trinity College or the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI. The new format involves two unpaid work placements of four and eight months in years 4 and 5, respectively. In addition to this unpaid work, the fees for the fifth year have increased from €3,000 to €7,500 in UCC, to €8,500 in TCD and to €9,000 in RCSI. As a result, each pharmacy student is looking at a cost of approximately €25,000 over the course of the degree.

These students, whose skills will be badly needed by our country upon their graduation, are facing a long course combined with unpaid work and, in many cases, seven days a week of combined study and work to make ends meet and complete their courses.

I want to ask the Government if this is acceptable. The Higher Education Authority has refused to fund the fifth year of the pharmacy programme leaving colleges to foot the Bill. The colleges have inevitably passed it on to students. It is paramount that we act now to remove the blanket ban on payments to students to prevent pharmacy courses becoming elitist. To this end, students from UCC, TCD and the RCSI are calling on the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland to remove the blanket ban immediately. That is what they were doing this morning. I support them at a time when we need medical professionals and support from pharmacists. We need the students to get the support to get their Master's without experiencing poverty or difficulty in pursuing it.