Pharmacy Regulations.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 April 2004

Tuesday, 27 April 2004

Questions (500)

John Perry

Question:

558 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland has recently passed a motion seeking the mandatory use of child resistant closure containers and modified its code of practice for good pharmaceutical practice to reflect the resolution; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that this code of practice is binding on members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland although not yet statutory; when this legislation will be in place in view of the fact that the business plan of a person (details supplied) in County Sligo is dependent on it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11487/04]

Written answers

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

This matter has been examined within my Department on a number of occasions and it was concluded that it would not be appropriate to introduce regulations requiring the mandatory use of child resistant containers for all medicinal products. While it is essential to ensure that children are protected from the risk of accidental poisoning by medicinal products, it is also necessary to ensure that the interests of persons with a disability, who may experience difficulties with this type of product, are taken into account. If a regulation were to be introduced in this area, the number of exemptions which would be required would effectively render such a regulation impractical. It is therefore more appropriate to protect children in this instance by a professional code of practice such as that introduced by the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland.

It is a requirement under the Medicinal Products ( Prescription and Control of Supply ) Regulations 2003 that all dispensed medicinal products carry a warning advising that such products should be kept out of the reach of children. Accordingly, parents and others responsible for the care of children should ensure that all medicinal products, or indeed any potentially harmful substances, are stored in an area which is inaccessible to children.