Health (Provision of Contraception Prescribing Service in Retail Pharmacy Businesses) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Pádraig Rice (SD), Cork South-Central

I move amendment No. 8:
In page 5, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:
“Report on prescription-free oral contraceptives
4. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on a proposal to allow registered pharmacists to dispense prescription-free oral contraceptives.”.
This is an amendment looking for a report on the provision of prescription-free oral contraceptives. It calls on the Minister, within six months of the passing of the Act, to lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the proposal to allow registered pharmacists to dispense prescription-free oral contraception. While the Bill as printed allows pharmacists to represcribe certain contraceptives, we believe that oral contraceptives should be available prescription-free. The oral contraceptive pill has been around for well over half a century and is one of the safest and most well-studied medicines available. In 2019, the World Health Organization publicly stated that oral contraception should be available without needing prescription. In 2023, the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU, told the Oireachtas health committee that there is no clinical reason for oral contraceptives to be supplied only on foot of prescription, with proper protocols in place for a very safe and effective healthcare intervention. In 2023, the health committee endorsed the IPU's call and wrote to the previous Minister for Health urging him to allow direct access to oral contraceptives through community pharmacists. Community pharmacists had been providing emergency contraception prescription-free since 2011. There is no clinical reason this should not be extended to oral contraceptives.
Pharmacists are highly trained healthcare professionals. They should be allowed to operate at the top of their licence. They are available in every community and are very accessible. They have private consulting rooms, already used for emergency contraception. If we find that a patient would benefit more from long-acting, reversible contraceptives, the patient can be referred to the GP by the pharmacist. Accepting this amendment would further alleviate pressures on already overstretched GPs. We know that the report published by the National Women's Council in April found that the survey respondents cited access to GPs as a significant barrier in accessing the free contraceptive scheme, particularly for migrants, people from rural areas and Travellers. It would also be particularly beneficial for those not eligible for the free contraception scheme. It would reduce the cost since they would not have to go to the GP. We are looking for the Minister to consider that issue and produce a report for the Dáil within six months.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15