Collins calls for access to pharmacy consultations for medical card holders to reduce pressure on GPs

Michael Collins TD, leader of Independent Ireland, has today called on the Government to “do the obvious and the fair thing” by ensuring that medical card holders have access to the new pharmacy consultation service without charge, warning that excluding them will deepen existing healthcare inequalities and do little to alleviate pressure on GPs.

The West Cork TD said it was “illogical” to create a new access point for minor ailments but block a large cohort of the population—those most reliant on State healthcare—from using it.

“The whole point of expanding the role of pharmacists was to ease the strain on general practice,” Deputy Collins said. “But if medical card holders are excluded because they’re being asked to pay out of pocket, then you are defeating the very purpose of the initiative.”

The Department of Health confirmed this week that no state funding has been earmarked to allow medical card patients to use the new common conditions prescribing service. The scheme is now due to roll out at the end of 2025, having missed its initial deadline of early this year.

Deputy Collins said the move risks widening gaps in primary care access and shows a lack of political will to fund frontline services properly.

“We can’t have a two-tier rollout for what should be a universal service. GPs are overburdened, and pharmacists are more than capable of handling common conditions safely and efficiently. But that only works if people can afford to use the service.”

He added: “Medical card holders can see a GP free of charge. If we’re now creating a second channel to ease GP demand, then that channel must be equally free at the point of access for those same patients.”

Deputy Collins is calling on Minister for Health Jenifer Carrol McNeil to commit to immediate funding for the inclusion of medical card holders in the new service. 

“We’ve had expert taskforces, working groups and oversight committees coming out our ears. What we haven’t had is decisive political action. This is a straightforward fix—extend existing coverage to this new setting and free up our doctors for more urgent cases,” he said.