Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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1653. To ask the Minister for Health the rationale for the requirement to renew prescriptions for long-term medical conditions every six months under the medical card and drug refund scheme; if he will consider extending this period for lifelong conditions such as asthma; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1220/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The length or duration of a prescription is at the clinical discretion of the prescriber, but ordinarily a prescription in Ireland is valid for a maximum period of six months and a prescription cannot be issued for a longer than that. The rationale for such time limits is to ensure that appropriate medical care continues to be afforded to persons in receipt of prescriptions.

However, in April 2020, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the then Minister for Health, Simon Harris T.D., introduced temporary, emergency provisions to enable pharmacists to ensure the continuity of care of patients without necessarily requiring a new prescription and to reduce pressures on General Practitioners at that time:

- the maximum period of validity of a prescription for non-controlled drugs was temporarily increased from 6 months to 9 months as of the date specified on the prescription.

- Some temporary changes to the way in which prescriptions can be repeated by pharmacists were introduced to enable pharmacists to ensure the continuity of care of patients without necessarily requiring a new prescription to be obtained from their prescriber. This is enabled in circumstances where:

- it is the professional judgement of the pharmacist that it is safe, appropriate, and necessary for the continued treatment of the person for a further supply to be made, AND

- it is unreasonable at the time for the person to obtain a new prescription.

The amendments in April 2020 also introduced the electronic transfer of prescriptions, whereby an electronic version of a new prescription may be transmitted from the prescriber to a pharmacy of a patient’s choice where it may not be possible or appropriate to attend a clinic or surgery at this time. This mechanism also facilitates individuals to obtain an up-to-date prescription and to enable the pharmacist to continue to dispense their prescription(s).

In light of the ongoing pandemic conditions the temporary provisions introduced continue to apply and have not yet been revoked. It is important to note that none of the temporary amendments impose a duty on a prescriber to issue a prescription beyond a period they consider to be clinically appropriate, or on a pharmacist to dispense any prescription where they do not consider it safe, appropriate and necessary for the continued treatment of a person for a further supply to be made without a new prescription issued by the prescriber.