Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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132. To ask the Minister for Health if all receipts from pharmacies can contain a breakdown of individual medicine costs and any other costs in the interest of transparency, competition and consumers. [9740/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Pharmacists play a crucial role delivering many important services to support the health of our communities, offering expert advice on illness, ensuring the safe supply of medicines, and delivering vaccines to the public. This includes the dispensing of medicines upon receipt of a valid prescription.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI), the Pharmacy Regulator, receives queries on pricing in pharmacies from time to time from pharmacists, patients, other healthcare professionals and state agencies. While the area of pricing of medicines is outside of the remit of the PSI, the PSI considers that transparency in pricing for patients and members of the public is desirable in line with it's Code of Conduct for Pharmacists.

Consequently, the PSI Council has requested that pharmacists ensure that their practice is guided by the following principles relating to pricing transparency for prescription medicines:

• In line with principle three of the PSI Code of Conduct, pharmacists are required to “provide honest, relevant, accurate, current and appropriate information to patients regarding the nature, cost, value and benefit of medicines, health-related products and services provided by them.” Pharmacists should therefore ensure that patients are facilitated in the provision of information concerning prices for medicines and services in pharmacies.
• Transparency of prices of prescription medicines for patients is desirable and any information on pricing provided to patients must be meaningful.
• Where requested by a patient/their representative, pharmacists should provide the price to the patient/their representative in advance of dispensing their medicine(s). It is acknowledged that the final accurate price may not be possible unless the pharmacist has the prescription.
• Following the dispensing of medicine(s), pharmacists should provide the patient/their representative with a receipt which itemises the price charged i.e. sets out the price per item dispensed.

I recently met with the Irish Pharmacy Union to discuss the opportunities over the next five years to further enhance the role of Community Pharmacy, expand services for patients, and develop new opportunities for pharmacies. In the context of this meeting, I also sought more clarity on the pharmacy pricing model with a view to improving the understanding of opportunities and barriers to improved transparency in this regard. I look forward to receiving this further information. My officials will then examine the matter further and seek the perspectives of other relevant stakeholders.