Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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568. To ask the Minister for Health if he and his Department will actively engage with community pharmacists regarding the review of dispensing fees in advance of the upcoming 30 June 2023 deadline; if he will fully consider the introduction of a flat fee model of care of reimbursement of €6.50 per medicine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29092/23]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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570. To ask the Minister for Health if he will actively engage with the community pharmacy sector to ensure that the highly complex nature and operation of community pharmacy schemes is recognised and that community pharmacists are reimbursed appropriately; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29094/23]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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571. To ask the Minister for Health to take the necessary steps to ensure that community pharmacists achieve pay parity with other health care workers, who have seen their pay increased on average by 14% per hour; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29095/23]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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572. To ask the Minister for Health if he and his Department will actively engage with community pharmacists to begin contract discussions with them, as was pledged under the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29096/23]

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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619. To ask the Minister for Health to provide an update on the review of community pharmacies services. [29175/23]

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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629. To ask the Minister for Health if he will restore the pay of community pharmacists by restoring dispensing fees, by granting pay parity with other healthcare workers and by recognising the administrative burdens faced by community pharmacists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29199/23]

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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641. To ask the Minister for Health if he will examine restoring rates for community based pharmacies as per the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29256/23]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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654. To ask the Minister for Health for clarification on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29321/23]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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665. To ask the Minister for Health what discussions he has had with Government colleagues regarding a campaign (details supplied) for the restoration of community pharmacy pay. [29377/23]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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675. To ask the Minister for Health if he has engaged with community pharmacies or with an organisation (details supplied) to conduct a review of their services under Public Pay and Pension Act 2017 legislation; when this review will take place; if he is aware of the huge increase in business costs wages and overheads since cuts were imposed during the recession in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29419/23]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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682. To ask the Minister for Health if he will give urgent and detailed consideration to a number of healthcare issues raised by a national representative organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29456/23]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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688. To ask the Minister for Health if he will address a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29577/23]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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719. To ask the Minister for Health if he will consider increasing the pharmacy dispensing fee from €6 to €6.50 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29703/23]

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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720. To ask the Minister for Health if he plans to meet with an organisation (details supplied) before the review of the nature of community pharmacies services, which is due to take place before the end of June; if he plans to review the current dispensing fee model for community pharmacies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29704/23]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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723. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to engage with an organisation (details supplied) to review the nature of community pharmacies’ services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29771/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 566, 568, 570 to 572, inclusive, 619, 629, 641, 654, 665, 675, 682, 688, 719, 720 and 723 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 have arranged to meet with the Irish Pharmacy Union in that regard.

I believe that there is a real opportunity to work collaboratively with community pharmacists, 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.