Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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638. To ask the Minister for Health if he will engage with an organisation (details supplied) regarding fees and pay restoration for pharmacists prior to the 30 June 2023 deadline; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30628/23]

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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688. To ask the Minister for Health if he will engage and meet with a union (details supplied) to discuss the fees pharmacies receive from the State for all the State drug schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30889/23]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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723. To ask the Minister for Health if he will engage with organisations to discuss the rising costs affecting community pharmacies (details supplied). [31111/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 638, 679, 688 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 held a meeting 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.