Under this Bill it is proposed to assemble in a convenient and modern form certain provisions relating to the control of pharmacy which are at present dispersed through various earlier enactments and to make additions to the body of law on this subject which experience has shown to be necessary.
The law on the control of the practice of pharmacy may be said to have originated in an Act of the year 1791 which confined the sale by retail of medicines to licensed apothecaries. By the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the exercise of this monopoly had resulted in an insufficiency of authorised dealers in poisons and medical prescriptions, to the great inconvenience of the public.
Therefore, by an Act of 1875, a new category of persons was permitted to share the monopoly. These persons are rather quaintly described in the preamble of the Act as "persons who, although they do not desire to practise the art and mystery of an apothecary, desire and are qualified to open shop for the retailing, dispensing and compounding of poisons and medical prescriptions," and the title given to them by the new statute was "pharmaceutical chemist". This Act—the Pharmacy (Ireland) Act, 1875— specified that only these, together with the licensed apothecaries and other medical practitioners who had passed an examination in pharmacy, could keep open shop for the sale of poisons or the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions. The Act also provided for the establishment of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and since that time the general government and control of pharmacy has been carried out under the aegis of that body and through its Council, which is elected by those pharmaceutical chemists who, by reason of their payment of an annual fee, are members of the Society.
By later Acts, further categories of persons were authorised to keep open shop. The grade of registered druggist, authorised to sell poisons but not dispense medical prescriptions, was created in 1890 and in 1951 a further grade of dispensing chemist and druggist, limited as respects entry to existing druggists and created to further the eventual disappearance of the latter, was given the same rights in respect of keeping open shop as the pharmaceutical chemists themselves.
I should now like to describe briefly how the present Bill will affect these earlier Acts.
Section 2 of the Bill re-states the law on the keeping of open shop for the dispensing and compounding of medical prescriptions and the sale of poisons, with some minor changes. Those who are at present entitled to keep open shop for these purposes will continue to be so entitled. I have already mentioned that this group, in addition to the licensed apothecaries, includes other medical practitioners who "in order to obtain their qualifying diploma have passed an examination in pharmacy." In fact, such entitlement to keep open shop as medical practitioners, other than licensed apothecaries, may have had has long since become a dead letter and I am advised that if I were to drop them altogether from the list of qualified persons, I should not be doing an injustice. However, in order to guard against the possibility of interfering with any right, however nebulous it might be, I have decided that the existing provisions in regard to medical practitioners, as such, should be continued for all those at present qualified, for those who have already embarked on their medical courses and for any who may do so prior to the commencement of the section.
Section 2 also contains provisions whereby a pharmacy business can be carried on by the representatives of a pharmacist who dies or becomes bankrupt or of unsound mind. It is only in the case of a death that this can be done at present.
Specific provision is included in Section 2 on the carrying on of a pharmacy business by a corporate body. While there is no explicit reference to this in the present pharmacy law, registered companies have become an important feature of modern business and it is considered desirable to specify clearly the conditions for their participation in retail pharmacy. The section will require that a corporate body which "keeps open shop" must employ a full time qualified manager who is not carrying on business on his own account or for anyone else.
In Section 3 of the Bill provision is made for the protection of the titles, emblems and descriptions which are commonly used by pharmaceutical chemists and others authorised to keep open shop for the purposes specified in the Bill.
Section 4 deals with the making by the Council of the Society of regulations dealing with its courses of training and with the examinations for persons aspiring to become registered. I might mention here that there has recently taken place a very important change in the method whereby persons are trained to become pharmaceutical chemists. Until quite recently the entire course was carried out by the Pharmaceutical Society. Now, however, the academic course is taken partly in University College, Dublin, and partly in the Society's own College. In these circumstances it was considered desirable to re-state the Society's functions in relation to this matter of pharmaceutical education.
Section 4 therefore provides that the Society may make regulations dealing with the courses of training and examinations to be taken by candidates for registration in any of the registers maintained by the Society. These regulations may provide for the approval of lecturers and for the conditions of admission to examinations. They may also provide for the recognition by the Council of the course of study and training and of the examinations of outside bodies. The new provisions will, I think, give a flexibility in the law on these matters which is desirable in view of the Society's co-operation with the University in the training of pharmaceutical students.
Under Section 5 the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society will have power, in accordance with regulations, to register as pharmaceutical chemists such persons as can satisfy the Council that they have gained satisfactory qualifications or experience abroad. The lack of some provision such as this has in the past proved an obstacle to the recognition of Irish pharmacists abroad. In certain instances when Irish pharmacists wished to have their qualifications recognised in other countries, it was found that this could not be done as no power existed whereby the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland could offer reciprocal recognition to pharmacists trained abroad.
Section 6 provides for the charging of fees by the Society. The section re-states the rights of the Society to levy fees for examinations, courses of training and registration and to collect annual fees from those on the register who choose to be members of the Society and thus to participate in its governance. The section also contains a new provision for the levying by the Society of annual retention fees on persons other than members who are on any of its registers. I think that I should explain this provision and the reasons for it in some detail.
Pharmacists as a body enjoy a valuable monopoly in the conduct of their business. For the protection of this, it is necessary that the Pharmaceutical Society should continue to exercise its important functions of training pharmaceutical chemists, and of maintaining supervision over the observance of the pharmacy code. It is in the interests of all pharmacists—and particularly those keeping open shop—that the Society's activities should be enable to proceed without being hindered by a severe shortage of funds. In fact, the Society is now short of financial resources and has been operating on a deficit for a number of years. It relies for its income on examination fees, fees for courses, registration fees and the membership fees to which I have referred. There are at present some 2,600 persons registered as pharmaceutical chemists, but of those only about 1,100 have chosen to pay the annual fees entitling them to membership of the Pharmaceutical Society. Thus, the financial burden of the Society's activities, in so far as this is defrayed by membership fees, is borne by persons who constitute less than half those eligible for membership. In the circumstances, I consider it reasonable that provision should now be made for the payment of reasonable annual retention fees by all pharmacists who desire to remain on the register. There is nothing novel in this. At present, dentists and opticians pay quite substantial annual retention fees and so also do solicitors and patent agents.
It was pointed out to me in the course of the debates in Dáil Éireann on these provisions that the monopolistic benefits enjoyed by pharmacists who keep open shop are considerably more valuable than those enjoyed by other pharmacists, such as those employed in hospitals or in industry. I am satisfied that there is some force in this contention and it has accordingly been provided, by an amendment made in the Dáil, that different fees may be charged on pharmacists keeping open shop and on those engaged otherwise in pharmacy.
The amount of the fees for retention on the register and of other fees will be subject to the consent of the Minister. This should be sufficient to ensure that the fees are not fixed at such a level as would impose undue hardship.
Section 7 provides for the conferring by the Society of the title of Fellow of the Society, or a similar title, on a person registered with the Society. This, I think, is a very desirable innovation, in view of the developments of pharmacy in recent years, the improved arrangements for the training of pharmaceutical chemists and the desirability of encouraging research in the field of pharmacy.
Section 8 provides for the cessation, after the dates laid down, of the existing rights of licentiates of the Apothecaries Hall to become registered as pharmaceutical chemists. This right was given to licentiates of the Apothecaries Hall by the 1875 Act. The cessation of this right in accordance with the provisions in Section 8 is based— and I want to emphasise this—on an agreement between the Apothecaries Hall and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. Existing licentiates of the Hall who have not yet registered as pharmaceutical chemists will have until the 31st December, 1963, to do so. Students registered with the Apothecaries Hall before the end of this year will be entitled to register as pharmaceutical chemists until the 31st December, 1970. This will allow them the full period which is normally required for the completion of their medical studies and a short additional period. The cessation of the right to registration as pharmaceutical chemist will not affect in any way the entitlement of licentiates of the Apothecaries Hall to keep open shop for the dispensing and compounding of medical prescriptions or for the sale of poisons.
I think I should emphasise that two separate things are involved here: the right to be on the Register which is maintained by the Pharmaceutical Society and the right to keep open shop. So far as the right to keep open shop is concerned, the existing licentiates of the Apothecaries Hall will not be affected in any way whasoever.
Section 9 of the Bill makes good an omission in a section of the principal Act which relates to penalties for false representations in order to secure registration. It will provide for the imposition of a fine in such cases as an alternative to the term of imprisonment which is already provided for in the section.
Section 10 provides for the repeal of the sundry provisions in the old Acts which are replaced in other sections of the Bill. It also provides for the repeal of an existing provision which requires the Pharmaceutical Society to supply inspectors of weights and measures with copies of its registers. This is expensive and inconvenient from the Society's point of view and it has proved in recent years to be unnecessary.
Section 11 deals with the short title, the collective citation and the commencement of the Act. It is intended that the various provisions of the Bill will be brought into operation at the earliest convenient dates after its enactment.