The Government has approved new legislation which it says will increase competition and raise standards in the pharmacy sector.
Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney said a short Bill will remove the prohibition on non-Irish graduates being supervising pharmacists in pharmacies less than three years old.
Fitness to practise provisions will also strengthen the powers of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland to ensure the highest standards are maintained in the sector, Ms Harney said.
A more detailed Pharmacy Bill will give effect to most of the recommendations of the Pharmacy Review Group, she added.
"These reforming measures will be good for consumers. They will allow for more pharmacists to practice in the country and will raise the standards of pharmacy services. The changes meet the requests to me from the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland to provide them with enhanced powers to enable them to carry out their role of ensuring quality standards and improving consumer protection."
"I am pleased that we will now be removing a restriction that was particularly unfair on Irish people who were forced to study pharmacy abroad in the past because of the restricted number of places available."
The Registrar of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, Dr Ambrose McLoughlin, welcomed the announcement.
"The society has warned for some time that the current system is woefully outdated and not appropriate to meet modern-day needs. The profession of pharmacy has developed and legislation has not kept pace with the range of services provided in modern pharmacy practice. We look forward to legislation coming before the Oireachtas that will reflect modern-day pharmacy services and that will enable the profession to continue to develop and meet the needs of our people in the 21st century.
"We are particularly concerned at the absence of powers in relation to fitness to practise provisions and we hope this will be resolved expeditiously."
The Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) the representative body for 1,400 pharmacists in Ireland, expressed "deep disappointment" with the plans.
The IPU said that while the proposal to introduce a strengthened Fitness to Practise Regime was to be welcomed, the failure to address the issue of the ownership of pharmacies was an "abject failure" which will hasten the demise of community pharmacy and put many pharmacies in rural and marginalised areas at risk of closure.
Dr Karl Hilton, IPU President said: "These proposals represent a wasted opportunity. We've waited four years for this half-hearted response and we see no evidence that the Department shares the rest of Europe's attitude that the pharmacy sector is a critical part of the primary health care system which needs investment and vision."