Tomorrow, we celebrate World Pharmacists Day 2026. Of course, it is World Pharmacists Week. This year's theme, chosen by the International Pharmaceutical Federation, is empowering pharmacists for healthier futures. It is an appropriate theme for Ireland. Over the past year, we have taken significant steps to empower pharmacists to play a broader and more clinical role within our health service. Through new services, new responsibilities and new investment, pharmacy is becoming an even more important part of deliver…

I do not think the Deputy has-----

I met Pavee Point recently. I will.

It has done so.

Stop interrupting her.

Stop interrupting.

I am pleased to introduce the Health (Provision of Contraception Prescribing Service in Retail Pharmacy Businesses) Bill 2026 to the Seanad. The Bill proposes to include pharmacists as prescribers of contraception in clearly defined clinical circumstances, in addition to their existing role in dispensing. It will also ensure that the service will be available free of charge under the free contraception scheme. It is a big expansion of what we have been trying to do for women. The plans for this were published in 20…

I thank Senators for their support and enthusiasm for this legislation. It is very practical and will improve access to healthcare for women. On the age range, this scheme was introduced in a phased way to protect the taxpayer. The emphasis was on the youngest women first, recognising that they probably had less money and that they were not as likely to be at the phase of trying to conceive as somebody in their late 20s or early 30s. The intention was to focus and build over time. I would very much like to continue…

That is why we have put so much money into supporting them in different ways, including the conclusion of a €50 million increase to their fees and to provide for the opportunity to raise private funds in this way, for example, the common conditions service. I want to see pharmacists doing more. I believe in pharmacists and community pharmacy. It is an exciting opportunity for any pharmacist to continue to participate in these different schemes. First and foremost, and most importantly, this will make a big differen…

I thank Deputy Butterly. I thank Dignity4Patients and thank the men - overwhelmingly it is men - who collaborated with us and worked with us on this process. I thank Lorcan Staines who, I think the Deputy will see from the report, has adopted a most empathetic approach that is different from any language that has been used about this and about these men in the past. I thank him for his kindness and the way in which he has embraced that. Dignity4Patients was with us as a partner and the men were with us as partners …

I thank the Deputy for his continued advocacy for all people with rare diseases. We are trying to change the system specifically to get better access for rare diseases and we are partnering with other countries to try to do that as quickly as possible. It is wrong that we are negotiating against each other as member states, in some cases, with pharmaceutical companies. We have not reached the best solution on a European basis. There is work there to be done and as president of the Council of the European Union on h…

I thank the Deputy for the amendments and the spirit in which they have been put forward. It is important to be able to have these discussions. I will deal with second one. The Deputy is quite right that ages of consent vary. Medical consent is 16, sexual activity is 17, consent under GDPR is 18, and that can lead to some complexity. It can lead to confusion on the part of young people seeking care and risk aversion on the part of the clinicians treating them. The HSE clinical experts recommend that healthcare prof…

If I had all of the money in the world, of course I would simply do these different things but I have to make choices between different things that the Oireachtas wants to spend money on. There are so many requests to spend money. There are never requests to find other things to do with them. Yes, if I had the money, of course, but that would also mean having to make choices around assisted human reproduction or putting more money into menopause clinics. There are so many different things for which we need more mon…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 4, lines 26 and 27, to delete “or medical device”. We have a number of Government amendments to the Bill which collectively remove a reference to a medical device or devices from the Bill. Our pharmacy regulators, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, have been able to confirm to me that none of the contraceptives to be included in the pharmacy scheme are classified as medical devices. Amendments Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive, essentially …

I move amendment No. 4: In page 4, line 27, to delete “or medical devices”.

I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, line 32, to delete “or device or devices”.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 5, lines 8 to 10, to delete all words from and including “subsection (3A)—” in line 8 down to and including in line 10, and substitute “subsection (3A),”.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 5, lines 15 to 17, to delete all words from and including “subsection (3B)(a)—” in line 15 down to and including line 17, and substitute “subsection (3B)(a),”.

I thank the Deputy. I confess that we were not exactly clear on the nature of the contraceptives overall. Can I just clarify whether the Deputy is referring to progesterone only or combined, or simply the initial access in the pharmacy?

I have better clarity on that now. This Bill is the culmination of a couple of years of work begun by my predecessor on the provision of contraception through pharmacies. That work commenced with consideration of the matter by the expert clinical committee on contraception, which was convened by the HSE. The crucial thing about the recommendations is that we are so pleased to be able to extend the follow-up service to pharmacies but we are not in a position to remove it from the clinical judgment of the GP in the f…