Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply and his acknowledgement this is becoming a major issue in pharmacies. We need a more comprehensive response from the HSE. I raised a Commencement matter seeking the appointment of a chief pharmacist officer at the Department of Health to oversee all this. While I fully acknowledge the good work done by the stakeholder engagement group, the HPRA and so on, this needs more far more intensive engagement both with the IPU and pharmacists in general. This can and should happen. Initially, there would be the appointment of a chief pharmacist officer. The immediate problem must be looked at within the Department, namely, the non-availability of standard medicines and the fact other medicines that are licensed as alternatives are not covered within the schemes. Then, on an immediate to long-term basis, there must be engagement to come up with a strategy, because it is a Government policy that community pharmacists should have a greater role in the provision of healthcare, and rightly so. For that to happen, we need a proper strategy within the Department.