Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2023
622. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost of increasing dispensing fees of community pharmacies, to a flat fee model of care being reimbursed at €6.50 per medicine. [29178/23]
View answerThe regulations governing the pharmacy fee structure are set out in the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (No. 34 of 2017) and in S.I. No. 639 of 2019, the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (Payments to Community Pharmacy Contractors) Regulations 2019, which put the current fee structure in place, with effect from 1 January 2020.
Under Section 42(14) of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 the current pharmacy fee structure must be reviewed every third year after 2020. My Department is currently carrying out a review and Department officials have arranged to meet with the Irish Pharmacy Union in that regard.
The full year cost of introducing a flat fee per item dispensed is determined by the number of persons with eligibility under the state schemes and the number of items dispensed under those schemes. These continue to rise year on year.
The estimated full-year additional cost of introducing a flat fee of €6.50 per item dispensed would be no less than €140m per annum. However, depending on activity under the schemes, it could cost up to €162m per annum.
