Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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1212. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding a Departmental review of community pharmacy services; if he is currently engaging with an organisation (details supplied) on the concerns of community pharmacists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27919/23]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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1270. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to meet an organisation (details supplied) to discuss urgent matters on dispensing fees for community pharmacies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28265/23]

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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1285. To ask the Minister for Health his Department’s plans to engage with the community pharmacists sector and their representative body (details supplied) as committed to in the Programme for Government, with a view to renegotiating the existing fees model, which remains unchanged for 15 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28379/23]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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1314. To ask the Minister for Health given the obligations stipulated by the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act of 2017, can he provide an update on the progress of the review concerning the nature of services performed by community pharmacies; if discussions will be held with community pharmacies about restoring their dispensing fees to a flat fee model in line with the precedent set before the recession-induced cuts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28470/23]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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1323. To ask the Minister for Health what discussions he or officials from his Department have had with an organisation (details supplied) regarding reduced opening hours at evenings and weekends; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28554/23]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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1330. To ask the Minister for Health the steps he has taken to review the nature of services that community pharmacies perform on behalf of the State, under the terms of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017; if he will meet with an organisation (details supplied) to discuss this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28602/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1212, 1270, 1285, 1308, 1314, 1323 and 1330 together.

I recognise the significant role community pharmacists play in the delivery of patient care and acknowledge the potential for this role to be developed further in the context of healthcare service reform.

In that regard, various approaches to extending the scope of practice of community pharmacists are being progressed by my Department. The implementation of these necessitates engagement with a range of stakeholders and full consideration of all the relevant legislative and operational issues involved.

The regulations governing the pharmacy fee structure are set out in the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (No. 34 of 2017) and in S.I. No. 639 of 2019, the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (Payments to Community Pharmacy Contractors) Regulations 2019, which put the current fee structure in place, with effect from 1 January 2020.

Under Section 42(14) of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 the current pharmacy fee structure must be reviewed every third year after 2020.

My Department is currently carrying out a review and Department officials will communicate with the Irish Pharmacy Union in that regard very shortly.

I believe that there is a real opportunity to work collaboratively, and with other healthcare providers, to make a significant difference to patient outcomes. Of course, any publicly funded pharmacy service expansion should address unmet public healthcare needs, improve access to existing public health services, and provide better value for money.