The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) is the competent authority for medicines in Ireland and is currently conducting an independent review of the method of sale and supply of codeine-containing medicinal products that are available without a medical prescription in Ireland.
It is expected that the HPRA will finalise this review in 2026. Following the completion of this review, the Department of Health will engage with relevant stakeholders to assess the recommendations made by the HPRA, and to fully consider any policy changes that may be required regarding the regulation of codeine-containing medicinal products.
Low-dose codeine-containing medicinal products remain available through pharmacies in accordance with regulatory guidance and legislation.
The recent implementation of the Common Conditions Service and the principles of the Community Pharmacy Agreement are a separate matter and relate to the expansion of pharmacy services. As per the overarching recommendations from the Final Report of the Expert Taskforce to Support the Expansion of the Role of Pharmacy, the intention is to take a step-wise approach to this expansion of the pharmacist's role, leading to the introduction of independent, autonomous pharmacist prescribing in the coming years. Pharmacist prescribing under the Common Conditions Service is carried out in line with clinical protocols, regulatory guidance and following additional training. These initiatives seek to recognise the skills and expertise of pharmacists, but the prescription classification of medicines under the Common Conditions Service remain unchanged.
New developments in eHealth technology and infrastructure will support health care delivery across multidisciplinary healthcare settings, and will bring benefit to healthcare management for all patients.
Nonetheless, we await the outcome of the HPRA review, and I do not wish to speculate on its potential findings.
