Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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729. To ask the Minister for Health to give a timeline in respect of the appointment of a chief pharmacist in the Department of Health in view of the vast amounts being paid by the taxpayer for pharmacy products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42738/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I have requested the HSE to establish a Medicines Sustainability Programme to drive immediate savings under the medicines budget and to progress medium to long-term structural reform in respect of medicines expenditure. A Department of Health and Health Service Executive Medicines Sustainability Taskforce is established to support the HSE Sustainability Programme and to lead and drive the medicines workstream of the overarching savings and productivity programme. The Taskforce will support the HSE’s examination of medicines expenditure in the health service and the identification of measures to maximise the substantial medicines budget.

I am committed to the expansion of the role of pharmacy in Ireland. In July 2023, I established the Expert Taskforce to Support the Expansion of the Role of Pharmacy to examine how pharmacists can be enabled to expand their scope of practice for the benefit of patients and the wider health service.

On August 13, 2024, I published the final report of the Expert Taskforce. The Taskforce made three overarching recommendations:

1. That pharmacists be enabled to exercise independent, autonomous prescriptive authority within and related to the individual practitioner’s scope of practice and competence.

2. This should be implemented in a stepwise manner, commencing with the introduction of a common conditions service, with pharmacists provided with prescriptive authority linked to the service and its parameters.

3. The development, over the coming years, of models of pharmacist prescribing within primary and secondary care settings, recognising the requirements for specific enablers.

In line with the Taskforce's recommendations, I am immediately prioritising supporting pharmacists to prescribe for certain conditions under a new Common Conditions Service. I have established an Implementation Oversight Group with multi-agency representation including pharmacists, to support the necessary implementation work to deliver this first phase of pharmacy expansion. I expect a Common Conditions Service to commence in early 2025.

In relation to the Taskforce's package of recommendations for the development of models of pharmacist prescribing across the health service - in other countries, this has involved pharmacists prescribing for more complex conditions in specific settings. In parallel to progressing the common conditions service, I have asked my officials to examine these wider recommendations, which includes a recommendation on the appointment of a chief pharmacist, to consider how best to apply these models in an Irish context and the enablers that will be required to design, plan and deliver these. My Department will consider these further over the coming months and engage with stakeholders through established structures.