Sir, - The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland wishes to clarify its position concerning new schools of pharmacy following Emmet Oliver's article "UCC cleared to open new pharmacy school" (The Irish Times October 23rd).
The article incorrectly stated that "the move to produce more pharmacists has run into major opposition from the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, which has warned of making a rash decision".
This statement has been taken out of context and refers to concerns expressed by the society following the publication of the Peter Bacon & Associates' report, Assessing Supply in Relation to Prospective Demand for Pharmacists in Ireland. In its response to this report, the society expressed its belief that the recommendation therein that at least 50 additional pharmacists be produced annually in this State was based on "anecdotal information that is unproven and on inaccurate data".
The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland has never been opposed in principle to the provision of additional pharmacy undergraduate places, it has merely requested that the number of such places be determined on the basis of an accurate pharmacy manpower study, as in previous decades there has been an over-supply of pharmacists.
The society is charged under the 1962 Pharmacy Act with responsibility inter alia for ensuring the quality of undergraduate pharmacy education and accrediting institutions or bodies providing such education. In 1998, following expressions of interest from a number of third level institutions, the society published an accreditation document "Criteria for Accrediting a Degree Course in Pharmacy" with which any new or existing pharmacy degree course must comply in order to be recognised by the society.
In recent correspondence with the Higher Education Authority, the society has placed on record its wish to facilitate in so far as possible, the provision of 50 additional pharmacy undergraduate places at the earliest date. The society sees its role in the debate surrounding the provision of additional undergraduate pharmacy places solely as one of ensuring the quality of a pharmacy degree course.
The society's accreditation document "Criteria for Accrediting a Degree Course in Pharmacy" and its full can be viewed on its website at www.pharmaceuticalsociety.ie. - Yours, etc.,
Ann McGee, Registrar and Secretary, Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, Dublin 4.