OPPOSITION PARTIES have called on the Government to allow third-party mediation in the pharmacists’ dispute to ensure vulnerable patients are not made to endure further hardship.
Fine Gael’s health spokesman Dr James Reilly TD said Minister for Health Mary Harney’s decision to reject independent mediation would only prolong the crisis.
“Minister Harney is displaying remarkable stubbornness by ruling out any negotiations. She continues to ignore her own reports, and seems oblivious to the hardship and suffering being experienced across the country. As Minister for Health she has a responsibility to find a solution,” he said.
“At the same time, the Irish Pharmacy Union must appreciate the genuine suffering that their action is causing. We have open warfare. Patients are caught up in the chaos and mayhem of this dispute, and innocent victims are in the crossfire.”
Labour Party president Michael D. Higgins said the Minister’s intransigence on the matter was impacting on the elderly, sick and infirm. “It is crucial now that the posturing end and that real and genuine steps be taken towards resolving the impasse. This ought to be done through means of mediation and to this end a third party should be called on to act as an honest arbiter. This is the fastest method through which services to patients can be restored.”
There were also growing signs of unease within the Government yesterday over the dispute. Fianna Fáil TD and former minister of state Ned O’Keeffe said a mediator should be appointed immediately to help resolve the problem or else Fianna Fáil’s vote could be “decimated”.
“We’ll be seen to be arrogant. Arrogance is the word. Governments have to talk and politics is about people and the common good and we have to identify with all that,” Mr O’Keeffe told Eamon Keane on Newstalk radio.
In addition, Minister of State for Health and Fianna Fáil TD Áine Brady told the station that the cuts for pharmacists were too severe. However, in a statement later yesterday evening, a spokeswoman for the Minister said she “fully supports the action being taken to reduce the fees paid to pharmacists which will realise €133 million in savings for the taxpayer.”
Age Action Ireland, meanwhile, warned that the dispute meant many older people were struggling to get vital medication.
“It is not acceptable or sustainable that older people should face such stress and hardship to get their medication,” spokesman Eamon Timmins said.
“Travelling long distances and having to queue for hours is difficult for anyone, but it puts huge stress on older people who may not drive or have access to public transport, and who may be ill and coming from their GP’s surgery with their prescription.”
