Written answers

Wednesday, 28 April 2021

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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882. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to restore the FEMPI cuts in the pharmacy sector. [21263/21]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The regulations to which the Deputy refers, were made under section 9 of the FEMPI Act 2009 and these were set to expire at the end of 2019. It was therefore necessary for my predecessor to enact new legislation under the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017, in order to maintain a statutory basis for contractor payments and to prescribe the fees payable from that date.

The previous Government gave a commitment to commence a strategic review of the role of community pharmacists and to engage with the Irish Pharmaceutical Union to develop revised contractual terms. It is my intention to honour that commitment as the existing GMS pharmacy contract is substantially outdated. It has not kept pace with developments that have taken place over the course of recent years including the increasing emphasis on maximising the proportion of people’s healthcare needs met in primary care, interdisciplinary collaboration and the skillset that pharmacists have by virtue of their education and training.

The comprehensive review of the pharmacy contract will address the role to be played by community pharmacy in the context of Sláintecare. It will consider all aspects of pharmacy service provision including delivery of a multi-disciplinary model of service delivery for patients, ensuring clarity of roles and achieving optimum value for money. However, any publicly funded pharmacy service expansion should address unmet public healthcare needs, improve access to existing public health services or provide better value for money or patient outcomes.

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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883. To ask the Minister for Health the reason reimbursement schemes require pharmacies to identify their wholesaler when they engage in parallel imports. [21265/21]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

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