Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I cannot get into ophthalmology in this debate but I am more than happy to speak to Deputy Healy-Rae about it offline. I will respond to his relevant question on the healthcare providers who are required to support patients.

With regard to the margin for pharmacists, the current situation is that pharmacists will have two types of patients. These are patients with medical cards and private patients. At present a patient with a medical card already has full free access to HRT and the pharmacist is paid a set amount by the State for this. For the private patient, typically the pharmacist must make a margin for the provision and dispensing of the products. Typically what a pharmacist does is to add a margin to the cost of the product. Some might charge a dispensing fee. Various pharmacists do it in various ways.

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