World Pharmacists Week: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Pádraig Rice (SD), Cork South-Central

It is a related point about how we decide on statements, what kind of statements we have and the discussions we have. It is an important point because I feel strongly, as a citizen and an elected representative, about this Parliament, how we run the Parliament, how we make it more productive and how we serve the citizens of the State best. It is a great honour to be here to represent people and the time we have here is vitally important. Engagement with a senior Minister on these issues is really important and a Minister's time is very precious as well. It is just a point that maybe we could have dialogue on this at some stage.
On the pharmacists, I acknowledge there has been a real expansion of the services on offer from community pharmacists. The focus is no longer just on a dispensing-based service, which is rightly the core of the clinical model and the very foundation of our pharmacies. We are seeing a move towards a more expansive and integrated model where pharmacists’ expertise is recognised and utilised. The Minister and her predecessor should be acknowledged for their work to expand services in community pharmacies. It is really important we are seeing the expansion of the work that happens in pharmacies. Too often task forces are set up but do not lead to tangible change. This has not been the case with the expert task force to support the expansion of the role of pharmacy. The task force was established in 2023 and published its findings the following year. Since then we have seen pharmacists enabled to extend certain prescriptions for up to 12 months, the introduction of the common conditions service and the passage of a Bill to allow for pharmacists to represcribe certain contraceptives and I understand that the Department is finally on course to appoint its first Chief Pharmaceutical Officer.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24