The Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill says she wants to see pharmacies giving more vaccines to school children this year as preparations for the opening of the new Children's Hospital get under way.
She said the uptake for children getting the flu vaccine increased to 25% last year compared to 17% in 2024, which she said was important for everybody's health.
"This year it will matter more than ever if we're considering how we move to the new Children's Hospital. The vaccination rates really matter because it impacts on how respiratory illnesses are circulating in the community and what hospitalisations come from that and how many ambulances are available," she told delegates at the Irish Pharmacy Union conference in Carlow today.
On HSE budget overruns and a shortage of nursing staff, the Minister told reporters that she wanted to be clear that recruitment was still happening for frontline clinical positions, where she said there was no pause.
"What we want is to have less people working on agency contracts and convert them to permanent positions within the HSE."
She said too much money was being spent on agency staff and "filling gaps" when there were vacancies there, that were already funded.
She said it was difficult to recruit at the moment, and this was being experienced by countries across Europe.
She said budget controls were important, and the drugs budget had gone up considerably this year as the population grew and people get older.
"What we ultimately want to do is provide multi-annual funding for the health system so there's predictability," she said adding that there was still more work to do, to contain costs.
Asked about some issues outlined at the Irish Nurses and Midwives (INMO) conference yesterday about staff parking and other concerns about the move to the delayed National Children's Hospital, Ms Carroll MacNeill said she had recently met with staff at the children's hospital in Crumlin who were very excited about the move.
"If you've been in Temple Street or Crumlin recently or if you're working there, you would very much want to be in the new facility." She said all practicalities around the move would be worked out to make sure excellent clinical care was delivered at the new hospital, by excellent clinical staff.
As part of a greater role that community pharmacy will play in the healthcare sector, she said the new role of Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at the Department of Health would be advertised next month.
"The Department of Health is not just a Government department, it's a centre of science and is a centre of excellence and we have brought in fantastic people over the last number of years," she said.
As well as a Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer role having been created, she said the pharmaceutical role would mean expert advice was given directly to her and to her department in terms of decision-making and expertise.
Taking over today as the newly elected President of the Irish Pharmacy Union, Caoimhe McAuley said she hoped this role would have real resources and leadership.
She said the cost base for pharmacists was continuing to increase each year and there will be an upcoming fee review in June which she said would be a "critical opportunity to ensure that funding arrangements reflect the reality that 82 per cent of dispensary revenue is publicly funded and pharmacies are effectively price takers on the majority of their business."
Ms McAuley said it was an exciting time for community pharmacy as prescriptions for eight common conditions that people used to have to go to their GP for, could now be triaged and dispensed directly in pharmacies. She said patients wanted more of this.
The Minister said she would also like to see these service expanded. The common conditions are currently allergic rhinitis, cold sores, conjunctivitis, impetigo, oral and vulvovaginal thrush, shingles and uncomplicated urinary tract infections.
People can now also carry out bowel cancer screening at their local pharmacy, which it was hoped would remove some of the stigma.
