Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister of State a good morning and thank him for being here. I appreciate that nobody from the Department of Health is available and I appreciate the Minister of State taking this matter. As long as he will have a meaningful reply, I will have no problem.

There is in place legislation, the Public Service Pay and Pension Act 2017, under which the Minister for Health is obliged to engage with pharmacists every three years for a review of the operation and effectiveness of the sector and the rates that are payable to pharmacists. Since 2009, the rates paid to pharmacists have been frozen. That was almost 15 years ago. At the same time, costs for pharmacists have gone up incredibly. These are highly qualified people within a medical profession. They are the first port of call for many people in communities. We encourage that. Pharmacists have small consulting rooms in their pharmacies. They have been instrumental in the roll-out of the vaccine programme and we saw how vital they were during the Covid-19 pandemic. They are also employers and retailers. They are contributing to rates and employment in our communities. They are contributing in every way. At a time when we are under pressure for GPs, many of whose lists are closed, pharmacies are more valuable now than they have ever been in the history of the State.

I know from the personal experience of my family that pharmacies are the first port of call for a piece of advice if there are any changes to, or queries about, medication. For anything like that at all, our local pharmacy has a wealth of knowledge. The pharmacists are accessible and personable and offer in-person contact and follow-up. It is not reasonable for those people to have gone so long with a pay freeze and a freeze on their services. If anything, we should be incentivising pharmacists to open more pharmacies. They should provide a community place and threshold before somebody goes to a primary care centre, GP or accident and emergency department. There are many things that can happen at a pharmacy level.

We have had supply issues. I have spoken with our local pharmacist, Ms Ann-Marie Horan, who as it happens is also involved in pharmaceutical representation. In that context, she explained to me that when there is a shortage of supply, pharmacists are qualified to and capable of varying the drug a person has been prescribed and recommending an alternative. However, the pharmacists must email or fax GPs - and it is shocking that people have to fax at all in this day and age - and wait for a renewed prescription when in actual fact they have the competence, qualification and capacity to vary the prescription. When I have inquired about that with the Taoiseach, I have been told there are limited circumstances where that can happen but it is being reviewed for extension. At a time when we are looking at extending the services pharmacists provide, now more than ever the Minister needs to engage. The deadline by which the Minister should have engaged with pharmacists in this effectiveness, operation and rate review is 30 June. By the point I received this representation, no action had been taken by the Minister. I hope the Minister of State will give me better news on that front and we will see demonstrable action from the Department of Health to recognise the value of pharmacies in our communities.