Vol. 546 No. 1
113 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the actions he proposes to take to provide proper recognition of the role of homeopathic medicine; and his proposals in relation to the recognition of qualifications and the extension of proper cover for medical card holders for such treatments. [31235/01]
There is a system of registration established in this country with regard to homeopathic medicinal products. Companies seeking to market such products should make application to the Irish Medicines Board for appropriate registration. In order for homeopathic medicinal products to be included in the common list of items reimbursable under the community drug schemes, the products must comply with a list of criteria. These range from the uses for and licensing of medicines to the pricing of products. The product should ordinarily be supplied to the public only on foot of a medical prescription and should not be advertised or promoted to the public. In addition the product should be an allopathic medicinal product and subject to a product authorisation from the Irish Medicines Board. Homeopathic products do not meet these criteria and, accordingly, are not eligible for inclusion on the common list.
As a preliminary step in the process of developing a system of registration for complementary and alternative therapists which could include homeopathic practitioners, I established a forum which met in June 2001 to examine and explore practical issues involved including education and training. As detailed in the health strategy there is a number of factors which any registration system should take account as follows: the categories of therapists to be covered; the evidence base for each therapy; the educational qualifications, training and experience of therapists; the scope of practice involved; the protection of the public and promotion of a quality service, including the efficacy of the therapies offered; regulations governing alternative therapists in other countries; and the current proposals for statutory registration of health and social care professionals in Ireland.
Arising from the work of the forum I have requested the Institute of Public Administration to prepare a report on proposals for the way forward taking into consideration the formal views of the representative groups that participated in the forum. It is intended to publish this report by March 2002 next.
