Organisations representing pharmacists have welcomed the publication of new legislation to reform the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry.
The Pharmacy Bill 2007, which will go before the Oireachtas in the coming weeks, provides for new standards of governance, fitness to practice and registration for pharmacists.
The Minister for Health, Mary Harney, said it will also benefit suitably qualified pharmacists who wish to work in Ireland, including Irish graduates who had been educated in other EU countries.
Ms Harney said the Bill provides a complete overhaul of the regulation of the pharmacy profession.
The Bill will also provide for the removal of legislation which had previously blocked pharmacists educated in other EU countries from owning, managing or supervising a pharmacy in Ireland that is less than three years old.
The minister also intends to include a provision to deal with 'conflicts of interest' between those who prescribe and those who dispense medication.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, the body responsible for the regulation of the profession and practice of pharmacy in Ireland, has welcomed the publication.
President of the Society, Ronan Quirke said the Bill is long overdue, but the society is pleased the Government have delivered on a commitment to update the regulatory framework for the profession of pharmacy.
He said the profession has been regulated by the same legislation for over 130 years.
'Every Minister for Health in the last 30 years has promised a Bill, but this is the first time one has emerged', he added.
The Pharmacy Bill 2007 will be first debated in the Seanad on 23 March and later in the Dáil.
The minister hopes for the Bill to be passed by Easter.
