Pharmacy Bill to be come before Cabinet this week
09/04/2006 - 10:38:59A new Pharmacy Bill is to come before the Cabinet this week.
The Government is likely to approve a set of new measures to reform the way pharmacies are regulated and policed.
A number of reforms are expected to be introduced in the bill. The controversial three-year ban on pharmacists who are trained abroad opening new shops in Ireland, for example, is due to be reduced to one year.
A fitness-to-practice regime is also expected to be set up again.
The Competition Authority has claimed that a lack of competition has led to Irish consumers paying higher prices than their European counterparts, giving Irish pharmacists the highest margins in the EU.
