Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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2298. To ask the Minister for Health to confirm whether prescriptions can be issued for a six-month period, or longer, under current legislation (details supplied). [20139/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Prescriptions are currently valid for a maximum of 12 months, with some exceptions.

As per S.I No. 73/2024 www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2024/si/73/made/en/ which came into operation on 1 March 2024, a prescriber may prescribe up to 12 months of certain medications, if they deem it clinically appropriate. Prescribers are under no obligation to prescribe medications for longer than they deem clinically appropriate.

The legislation also enables pharmacists to extend the validity period of prescriptions written for 6 months or more – up to a maximum of 12 months. This legislative change applies to prescriptions written on or after 1 March 2024.

There are a number of areas that would not be considered appropriate for prescription extension by a pharmacist as outlined in Pharmacy Circular 008/24 www.hse.ie/eng/staff/pcrs/circulars/pharmacy/pharmacy-circular-008-pharmacy-expert-taskforce-phase-1-recommendations.pdf. Pharmacists are not permitted to extend prescriptions for HIV Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), medications that are listed as a controlled drug in Schedule 2, 3, or 4 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017 (as amended), High Tech medications, or for prescriptions where the prescriber has indicated ‘do not extend’.