Brian Stanley: Questions delay in free HRT rollout after budget pledge
Brian Stanley questioned the government's failure to implement the budget commitment from last October to provide free HRT medication, saying women remain forced to pay. He cited constituent testimony and pressed for a resolution while officials described ongoing negotiations with pharmacists and the IPU.
The speaker highlighted the October budget promise to make hormone replacement therapy free but said pharmacies are in deadlock and women continue to pay for HRT. He said pharmacies told him they were not consulted about the scheme and that the commitment has been available to implement since January.
He quoted several women directly — Bridget, a 61-year-old widow with no medical card who says she must skip HRT because she cannot afford it; Sinead in Leish who is barely able to afford HRT and GP visits; and a Kildare woman who said she voted for Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael because of the budget commitment to free HRT.
A responding speaker acknowledged there had not been enough dialogue with pharmacists and said they met the IPU twice, in early February and again last week, to try to resolve the implementation. Officials said the aim is to make the medication free and that negotiations with pharmacists are ongoing to make the scheme workable for them.
The responding speaker said women are currently paying about 45 or 50 Euros for medication and that the budget did not provide for the dispensing fee. They noted the drugs payment scheme covers costs once the threshold of 80 Euros is exceeded and that the medical card scheme already covers medication; the stated goal is to eliminate medication costs so only a dispensing fee remains, subject to further negotiation.
Budget commitment and current situation
The speaker highlighted the October budget promise to make hormone replacement therapy free but said pharmacies are in deadlock and women continue to pay for HRT. He said pharmacies told him they were not consulted about the scheme and that the commitment has been available to implement since January.
Constituent cases raised
He quoted several women directly — Bridget, a 61-year-old widow with no medical card who says she must skip HRT because she cannot afford it; Sinead in Leish who is barely able to afford HRT and GP visits; and a Kildare woman who said she voted for Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael because of the budget commitment to free HRT.
Government response and talks with pharmacists
A responding speaker acknowledged there had not been enough dialogue with pharmacists and said they met the IPU twice, in early February and again last week, to try to resolve the implementation. Officials said the aim is to make the medication free and that negotiations with pharmacists are ongoing to make the scheme workable for them.
Costs, dispensing fees and coverage
The responding speaker said women are currently paying about 45 or 50 Euros for medication and that the budget did not provide for the dispensing fee. They noted the drugs payment scheme covers costs once the threshold of 80 Euros is exceeded and that the medical card scheme already covers medication; the stated goal is to eliminate medication costs so only a dispensing fee remains, subject to further negotiation.
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Transcript
I want to ask you about the commitment in the programme for government, sorry, in the budget last October to provide free HRT treatment for women. We were told that the pharmacies in the state were in deadlock over hormone replacement treatment and the pharmacies say they weren't consulted about this. Women are still having to pay, despite that commitment of last October from your government. And Bridget, a widow, who has no medical card, says she has to skip HRT treatment, she is 61 years of age and she can't afford it. Sinead in Leish says she is just about able to afford HRT and GP appointments and she says her heart goes out to those women who can't. And there are many women who have contacted me who can't afford it. A Kildare woman, this is what she said, and I quote directly, one of the reasons that she voted for the government parties, Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael, was because of the commitment in the budget last year was to provide for the HRT medication to be free. That has been available to be implemented since January. You are correct to say that there hasn't been enough dialogue or hadn't been enough dialogue between the pharmacists and the implementation of the scheme. I have met the IPU twice in early February and again last week to try to resolve the scheme to make sure that the medication is free. Women are paying in about 45 or 50 Euros at the moment. We need to reduce that. There isn't provision in the budget last year to pay the dispensing fee, as would often be the case with other schemes. Women, if you get to the drugs payment scheme, obviously it is over the 80 Euro that is covered at the moment and obviously the medical card scheme is covered at the moment, but what we want is that the cost of medication is eliminated and that it is just the dispensing fee left, but it is still under negotiation with the pharmacists more broadly to make sure that it is workable for them. Thank you.