Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Irish Pharmacy Union are to meet the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. It wants to see the long-overdue implementation of the hospital pharmacy review from 2012 and it very concerned about the proposed cuts to that sector. The Irish Pharmacy Union has stated that despite repeated assurances from the Minister that the cuts to pharmacists' income imposed during the financial crisis would be unwound, the Department of Health has recently revealed proposals for further cuts coming on 1 January 2020. Increasingly, patients rely on their pharmacists for their first health contact in the community due to the significant glut of patients in our health system. They are busier than ever and are being unfairly targeted. Pharmacies have a key role to play in primary care delivery. I see so many good pharmacies in my constituency doing just that, providing high quality unrecognised care in the Irish health system.

There is tremendous value as well in pharmacy-funded services and these unfair and unjustified cuts will disproportionately hit rural, disadvantaged and isolated pharmacies the hardest. I support these pharmacies and urge the Leader to tell the Minister, Deputy Harris, that this will be devastating on rural Ireland.

Carlow has 24 pharmacies that directly employ 260 people and with 620,000 annual visits, the importance of the sector must not be undervalued. Some of these cuts will have a direct impact on the most vulnerable. There will be a charge, for example, on the blister-packing service. The HSE did not pay for this and have reduced the dispensing charge and will not pay for qualifying patients. If the HSE does not pay for it the pharmacist has to incorporate the cost and many pharmacies can no longer do this free of charge. Some pharmacies now will pass this charge on. The HSE has cut the number of approvals, which is why more and more people have to pay. This is a very serious issue.

I asked the Leader to bring this matter urgently to the Minister. I will wait until Leader is finished before I continue.