Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 October 2004
152 Mr. Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children her views on pharmacies being opened by doctors; and her further views on whether there will be a conflict between doctors on the GMS having their own pharmacies. [24944/04]
View answerThe opening and operation of retail pharmacies in Ireland is governed by the Pharmacy Acts 1875-1977, subject to restrictions imposed by non-pharmacy legislation such as the Planning Acts. Any individual or company, including a medical doctor, may open a pharmacy provided that the shop and the dispensing and compounding of medical prescriptions are personally supervised by a full-time pharmacist who is not acting elsewhere in a similar capacity. This has been the position since 1990.
Notwithstanding this, the dispensing and supply of medicines under the general medical services and community drugs schemes is governed by a contract between the health boards and the pharmacists under the community pharmacy contractor agreement 1996. Section 21(1) of this agreement states that the contract shall be void if a practitioner, defined as a registered medical practitioner or a registered dental practitioner, is the owner, beneficial owner, director or a shareholder of a body corporate in the area in which the pharmacy is located.
The very good reason for this is to prevent any suggestion of impropriety whereby a practitioner would prescribe medicines which are subsequently purchased in the pharmacy in which he or she has a beneficial interest. For the same reason the pharmacy review group recommends that there should be no beneficial ownership or business interest of any kind between dispensing and prescribing.
My own view is that there are valid reasons for retaining this distinction but the report of the pharmacy review group is still under consideration and I expect to take definitive decisions on it shortly.
