Boots the chemist, which yesterday began offering Botox injections to customers at a number of its British stores, says it has no plans to offer the treatment at its outlets in the Republic.
The treatment, which is intended to make wrinkles "disappear", is already widely available here, costing upwards of €200 per session.
Botox is primarily used in the treatment of severe muscular disorders and is available free to medical-card holders for medicinal use of this type.
When used for cosmetic purposes, it is injected into muscle tissue in the face or neck. Its effect is to paralyse the muscle, causing wrinkles to "disappear" for up to three months. The treatment must be repeated to sustain the effect.
A spokeswoman for Boots Chemists in Ireland said the chain had no plans to offer the treatment at its Irish stores. "It is not coming to Irish stores. It is just in the UK," the spokeswoman said.
The treatment is already widely available in the Republic, according to Dr Kate Coleman-Moriarty, a consultant eye surgeon who practises at the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin. She has been administering Botox injections since 1996.
She said the company manufacturing the drug, Allergan in Westport, had reported that demand for the product had increased by 700 per cent in Ireland over the past year.
She also said she did not believe it mattered whether the treatment was given at a doctor's surgery or a high street pharmacy as long as it was administered by a doctor or under the close supervision of a doctor.
It was important to have a doctor present because there were very rare instances of severe complications, she said.
"There are certain contra-indicators to botulinum toxin type A [the active ingredient] and, if missed, the consequences could be fatal," she added. There have been seven deaths associated with Botox injections around the world.
Customers in the UK can now avail of the treatment during an extended lunch break at one of four Boots stores, in Kensington and Oxford Street in London, Milton Keynes and Manchester.
Boots said the treatments would be administered by experienced doctors.
The process would take up to 1½ hours.
The active substance in Botox is the highly potent neurotoxin, clostridium botulinum, type A, which comes from the bacteria that cause botulism in food.