I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
I am pleased to introduce the Health (Provision of Contraception Prescribing Service in Retail Pharmacy Businesses) Bill 2026 to the Dáil on behalf of the Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. The main purpose of the Bill is to make provision for the inclusion of retail pharmacy businesses as scheme providers and to provide a subset of contraception services referred to in section 67E of the Health Act 1970, the primary framework for the free contraception scheme. The Bill proposes to include pharmacists as prescribers of contraception in clearly defined clinical circumstances, in addition to their existing role in dispensing contraceptive medicines and devices. The plans for this were published in 2025, with an outline of the service fully agreed with our stakeholders in the pharmacy sector and included in the community pharmacy agreement. To enable pharmacy prescription, the Bill will amend the Health Act 1970, the Irish Medicines Board Act 1995 and the Pharmacy Act 2007 and will provide for related matters. The clinical basis for pharmacist prescribing is provided by the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 and regulations made under it.
Clinical provisions for this service, like those that support the common conditions service, will be finalised by secondary legislation once this Bill is enacted. The Bill and the secondary legislation, training and clinical protocols that will follow it will support the terms and conditions for this service, as laid out in the community pharmacy agreement. All secondary legislation will be in place before commencement and launch of this measure.
The Bill will enable the prescription of certain forms of contraception, such as the pill, the patch and the ring, by pharmacists. However, as new contraceptive options come onto the market, there is some flexibility to include those also.
The Bill will make this service available under the free contraception scheme for people aged 17 to 35. It will also be available to private patients, with pharmacies setting their own fees locally. This option may be cheaper and more convenient than returning to the GP for every prescription for those private patients. Pharmacists already supply emergency contraception. Furthermore, we do not envisage that contraceptive devices such as coils or implants, which require minor procedures to insert and remove, would be suitable for pharmacy prescription.
At this point I would like to mention the national condom distribution scheme, which provides free condoms through a separate service. In line with introducing pharmacy prescription, we are also bringing the national condom distribution service into pharmacy consulting rooms on a phased basis. Efforts are also being made to make this service more accessible to GPs. Condoms are the only form of contraception that protects against HIV and STIs as well as unplanned pregnancy, so we aim to support everyone's health by making them more accessible.
The pharmacy service is a core part of our efforts to further support women's health services in the community, as laid out in our programme for Government and the national sexual health strategy. The report of the working group on contraception, published in 2019, was clear about the need to expand the range and capacity of services, as well as addressing cost barriers. This measure is a significant step in that direction, delivering convenience and savings in both time and costs for patients, taxpayers and the State. This service will increase capacity within primary care.
I also want to mention the GP training programmes that we have been supporting since 2022. This will enable more GPs and primary care centres to provide coils and implants, another measure that will add to capacity and contributes to the wider expansion of women's health that we have promised in the programme for Government.
The Minister and the Government have prioritised raising awareness and building treatment services for women who may be experiencing endometriosis; early detection and treatment are key elements of prevention and care. In addition to its primary function, hormonal contraception is an essential treatment for adverse symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle. Such symptoms range from heavy bleeding or period pain and mood disorders such as pre-menstrual syndrome and endometriosis. Despite periods being a normal biological process, our Healthy Ireland and health behaviour in school-aged children surveys tell us that 50% to 60% of women and girls miss school, college, work, social events or sport on occasion because of period symptoms. Endometriosis and similar conditions are at the more severe end of the scale and are estimated to affect 5% to 12% of women. Better access to hormonal contraception is part of the solution to this.
Yesterday we launched the women's health action plan in Tallaght Hospital and it was wonderful to visit the endometriosis hub there. It was great to meet the staff, and I was delighted to be there with the Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. We could see the progress. We can see those changes now start to happen, which is really good. It is making a wonderful contribution to women's health, and that is so important. This Bill is another key element in widening our support for women's health.
I will now take the House through the Bill to outline the content of each section. The Bill makes provision to enable registered pharmacists to issue prescriptions for certain contraceptive drugs, medicines, products and devices. For that purpose, and to provide for related matters, the Bill amends the Health Act 1970, the Irish Medicines Board Act 1995 and the Pharmacy Act 2007.
Section 1 amends the definition of "scheme provider", which was previously limited to medical practitioners for the provision of prescriptions. The Bill expands the definition to include retail pharmacy businesses entering into an agreement with the HSE for the provision of pharmacy prescription services to women. The service will be provided by a registered pharmacist in accordance with relevant pharmacy legislation, including this Bill.
Section 2 amends section 32(2)(1) of the Irish Medicines Board Act 1995, and section 3 amends section 11 of the Pharmacy Act 2007, to support the clinical service and associated training requirements. These amendments ensure that the scheme is clearly enabled and cross-referenced through a refreshed legislative framework.
Section 4 is the final section and provides the Short Title and provisions for commencement.
Sections 1 to 3, inclusive, along with the clinical SIs to be drafted subsequently, align the relevant Acts to accurately define the new service. These sections also provide for clinical protocols, rules, codes of conduct and training provision for pharmacists who wish to provide the new service.
To sum up, the Bill will improve access to hormonal contraception; widen the range of services that can be delivered in the convenience of a local pharmacy; improve patient choice and convenience; save money for private patients and, separately, for the State by reducing costs under the free contraception scheme; and provide essential additional capacity for additional women's health measures, as promised in our programme for Government, the national sexual health strategy and women's health action plans.