Starting June 1st, Hormone Replacement Therapy medication and products will be available free of charge to women across the country.
Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill says she has reached an agreement with the Irish Pharmacy Union to provide HRT for all stages of menopause at no cost to residents.
Under the deal, pharmacies will receive a five euro dispensing fee per HRT item and a two thousand euro one-time grant to support participating community pharmacies.
Minister of State at the Department of Health Jennifer Murnane O’Connor told KCLR she welcomed the news.
“First of all, it’s really important, because our community pharmacists are pillars of the local community, and there’s a significant contribution that they’re making to women’s health, so that’s really important, this is about the women of the country, that they will be able to access free HRT from the 1st of June, two weeks time, and you know it’s really important.”
Meanwhile, Social Democrats TD for Cork South-Central Pádraig Rice has said that women who had already paid for HRT products this year should be reimbursed by the government, citing promises made during the election campaign that the provision of free HRT could be achieved as early as last January.
