Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2026
1142. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that requiring patients with disabilities to privately fund essential medication compliance supports may undermine safe administration of prescribed medicines in home-care settings; and if she will outline the alternative State-funded supports are available to such patients where phased dispensing is clinically inappropriate. [12156/26]
View answerThe State does not, and has never, funded blister packs for any cohort of patient, nor for any of the community drug schemes. There has been no removal of that service by the State. It has always been a privately funded service.
As I said before, there are three groups of patients using blister packs.
The first is those people who know they have always been paying for blister packs as a private service. The second group have been getting blister packs for free from their pharmacy. There should be no change for those two groups of patients.
The third group of patients are those where their pharmacy has been giving them blister packs for free but charging the State under phased dispensing.
I have been investigating the details of this with my Officials and the HSE.
The current pause on the planned changes to phased dispensing rules will facilitate community pharmacists to talk with their patients in an individualised manner, about the circumstances, specific to that patient.
Of course, it remains open to pharmacies to charge patients, or not, for the use of blister packs as a private service, as many currently do.
It is important, where a pharmacy charges a fee for any professional service, that they provide updated information to patients in line with the new Pricing Transparency Guidelines, which came into effect on 1st December 2025.
