Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House this afternoon. He will be aware that pharmacies are essential providers of healthcare in our communities and have the potential to do much more than they are currently doing in the context of a health system that is under pressure. However, community pharmacists feel they have been asked to provide more services on behalf of the State while receiving less money for doing so. They feel the viability of pharmacies is now being impacted. Since the introduction of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest, FEMPI, Act 2009, the community pharmacy sector is the only healthcare sector that has not had any pay restoration. Pharmacists claim to be in a worse financial position now than when the cuts were made in 2009 as costs have increased rapidly in the intervening period. In other words, the community pharmacy sector has had a pay freeze for the past 15 years.

Pharmacists point out that revenue generated by pharmacies under community drug schemes has been reduced by 29% while the cost of providing a high quality service has seen a 29% increase in expenditure and wages. Significant hikes in energy utilities, rent, insurance and administration costs can also be added to that. Reimbursement rates under community drug schemes have reduced by 24% and no longer cover the cost of dispensing an item, which has increased from €3.73 to €4.58. The consumer price index, CPI, has increased by 16% whereas the CPI for prescribed medicines has declined by 26%. One in ten community pharmacies, mainly rural ones, is loss making. Pharmacy is becoming a less attractive career choice, exacerbating the ongoing shortage of pharmacists when we need them most. Pharmacists are now seeking a restoration of dispensing fees to a flat fee model reimbursed at €6.50 per medicine. In 2009, pharmacies were paid an average dispensing fee of €6. The dispensing fee was cut and has not been restored, as the Minister of State will be aware. Pharmacists' pay needs to be restored in line with public sector pay arrangements and engagement is needed with the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU, to discuss fees. We all know community pharmacies have provided an essential service to patients on behalf of the State. We do not have to look back any further than the Covid-19 pandemic to appreciate the service they provided. They were not found wanting when they were asked to take on additional responsibilities in the interests of patient care. They have been patient and deserve engagement on these issues for the benefit of the sector and in the interests of the patients they serve in our communities. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.