The Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU), the representative body for some 1,400 pharmacists, has rejected a report in a Sunday newspaper which said that pharmacists were earning more than €1 billion in State payments.
According to Mr Michael Guckian, vice-president of the IPU, more than 70 per cent of this money was paid in respect of the cost of ingredients which pharmacists in turn have to purchase from pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The cost of these is typically set by the Government, he said. "Fanciful headlines may help sell papers, but they do little to help advance anyone's understanding of important issues like this," he said.
According to Mr Guckian, "the actual average payment to pharmacists was €186,000 (including fees and mark-up). And this is not a net payment into the pharmacist's back pocket".
He said that from this, pharmacists had to pay salaries and other overheads including rent, rates, insurance and other general running costs.