Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State. I have raised this issue previously in the Seanad and with the Department. It relates to pharmaceutical assistants. The pharmaceutical association made a recommendation to the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, recently that pharmaceutical assistants, most of whom have operated and worked in pharmacies for the past 35 years, should only be allowed to cover up to one hour per day in place of the pharmacist. That is fine but those people have been doing that job for 35 years during which time they were able to provide cover if the pharmacist was ill or on holidays. They brought a great deal of life experience to their work in pharmacies for the past 35 years but the association is trying to tell them now that their qualification does not mean anything. Those people went to college for four years. They did the practical side to the work. It was like an apprenticeship in that they learned about the different medicines. A number of them have taken part in upskilling and training to which pharmacists and their assistants are entitled. Continuing education is the best way to describe that.

I have had contact from a number of pharmaceutical assistants across the country who are very concerned that they will be seen now as unemployable because they will be only be able to cover in the pharmacy for up to one hour and, if these regulations go through, they will only be able to dispense repeat prescriptions and not any new prescriptions. That means if a customer comes into the pharmacy with a new prescription when the pharmacist is not present, the pharmaceutical assistant will have to tell that person to come back in an hour when the pharmacist is back or else send the person to another pharmacy down the road. That is not acceptable.

I received a number of emails from people on the issue. The pharmaceutical assistants have taken this very seriously and have made their own submission on it. In terms of some of the things they are looking for, they say the following: it should be compulsory that all pharmaceutical assistants take part in the further education and training which is open to them; pharmaceutical assistants should be included in a core competency framework, similar to that which applies to pharmacists; all pharmaceutical assistants on the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, PSI, register should be required to undergo a practice to review with the Irish Institute of Pharmacy; the PSI rules 2015 should be amended to extend mandatory continuing professional development, CPD, to which I referred already, to pharmaceutical assistants; and the Pharmacy Act 2007 should be amended to make fitness to practise applicable to all pharmaceutical assistants.

The pharmaceutical assistants are taking this matter seriously and have submitted their own options but they are concerned that if the regulations being suggested by the pharmaceutical association were brought into play by the Minister, their jobs would become obsolete. Why did they spend four years going to college and the past 35 years working in pharmacies if they are now to become unemployable? I am interested in hearing the Minister of State's response.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I thank the Senator for the opportunity to speak on this issue because it is important that we acknowledge the work of pharmaceutical assistants and what they have done for many years.

The Pharmacy Act 2007 established the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, PSI. The functions of the society are set out in the Act and are carried out on its behalf by the council of the society. The council is made up of 21 members, comprising lay members and pharmacists, with a non-pharmacist majority of one. Pharmaceutical assistant is a grade of pharmacy professional permitted under the Pharmacy Act 2007 to act on behalf of registered pharmacists during the temporary absence of the latter. For many decades, pharmaceutical assistants have played a valuable role in the community pharmacy through the provision of skilled assistance to registered pharmacists. I acknowledge that role.

Section 26 of the Pharmacy Act 2007 requires that a registered pharmacist be present always in a registered pharmacy when a member of the public attends, whether to have medicines dispensed or to receive advice regarding medicines or other health matters. Public assurance that safe and appropriate pharmaceutical care is always available in a registered pharmacy is based on this patient safety requirement. Section 30 of the Act provides for an exception to the general provision in the Act, which requires the sale and supply of medicines at a pharmacy to be conducted under the personal supervision of a registered pharmacist and specifies that no offence is committed where a registered pharmaceutical assistant acts on behalf of a registered pharmacist during the temporary absence of the latter. Section 30 permits the council to make rules as to what may be done by a registered pharmaceutical assistant when acting on behalf of a registered pharmacist and what constitutes the temporary absence of a registered pharmacist.

Following a period of public consultation, the council of the PSI considered the proposed draft Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (Temporary Absence of Pharmacists from Pharmacy) Rules 2018 at its meeting on 20 September 2018. The council approved the draft rules without amendment. Following this, the PSI undertook to redraft the rules on what may or may not be done by a registered pharmaceutical assistant when acting on behalf of the registered pharmacists. On 6 December, the council of the PSI approved a revised draft of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (Temporary Absence of Pharmacists from Pharmacy) Rules 2018 for issuance for public consultation. This public consultation commenced on 13 December 2018 and ran until 11 January 2019, affording any interested party the opportunity to make representations on the matter directly to the PSI. At its meeting on 14 February 2019, the council of the PSI approved the draft rules subject to certain amendments made on foot of the council's consideration of the results of the latest public consultation. On 8 March 2019, the PSI submitted the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (Temporary Absence of Pharmacists from Pharmacy) Rules 2019 to the Minister for Health for his consent in accordance with the requirements of the Pharmacy Act 2007. I will inform the Minister of the issues raised by the Senator.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I also raised this issue with the Minister, Deputy Harris. When pharmaceutical assistants were surveyed, it was discovered that they will be working for only eight to ten more years because it is 35 years since one could become qualified. The course has not been run since the 1980s. Therefore, the last pharmaceutical assistant will have retired in ten years. The youngest are in their mid-50s. It is not the case that the grade is relatively new. The pharmaceutical assistants have been working for over 35 years. There has never been a case against any of them.That is an important point which I would like the Minister of State to convey to the Minister for Health. Despite this, it appears the role of pharmaceutical assistants will become obsolete. Some of them have been given protective notice on the basis of the proposed new rules. There is an attitude that there is no reason to pay a pharmaceutical assistant when, in the temporary absence of the pharmacist, the pharmacy could bring in another pharmacist. Pharmaceutical assistants have done this work for many years and have acquired much experience. Most of them are almost as qualified as a pharmacist. Their experience means they are well able to advise customers.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I thank the Senator for her contribution. I totally accept the points she raised about the life experience of pharmaceutical assistants, the four years they spend in college and the upskilling and education in which they engage. Some of them have 35 years' service without breaching any rules. My experience in the disabilities sector is that pharmaceutical assistants have made a massive contribution to society. I accept the Senator's points in that regard.

Throughout the course of this process, the Department of Health has received correspondence from and on behalf of registered pharmaceutical assistants outlining their concerns regarding the drafting of these rules. Under the Pharmacy Act 2007, the Minister for Health's role in this process is limited to the consideration of any such rules once submitted for his consent. In doing so, the Minister will give careful consideration to the rules submitted by the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, PSI, and the concerns raised by or on behalf of registered pharmaceutical assistants.

I will bring the points the Senator raised back to the Minister to help broaden the discussion on this issue.