Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 466: To ask the Minister for Health and Children, in view of recent medicine shortages, if measures will be put in place to ensure that an adequate supply of prescription medicines is available to pharmacists here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11260/11]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) employs a number of procedures which help to reduce medicines shortages. These include statutory obligations on suppliers to notify the IMB of temporary interruptions in supply, facilitating batch-specific requests to avoid potential product shortages, the publication of information on the marketing status of authorised products, and the ongoing monitoring of the wholesale stock levels of controlled drugs.

The batch-specific request scheme is designed to ensure continuity of supply when a product that is fully compliant with its registered marketing authorisation dossier is temporarily unavailable. It also provides a mechanism to bring a batch that is not in full compliance with its registered marketing authorisation dossier into compliance, thus facilitating its supply to the market. The IMB prioritises the assessment of these applications to ensure that product shortages may be avoided when an issue arises that can be addressed by this scheme. The Department of Health and Children, the IMB and the HSE have been working together to identify and implement procedures to improve the management of medicine shortages.

In addition, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland works with the pharmacy profession to advise and assist when necessary, as pharmacists seek to meet patients' needs and ensure continuity of care.