Fianna Fáil TDs have demanded that the Health Service Executive (HSE) scraps plans to force 1,600 pharmacists to sign up to new temporary contracts that cut their fees for dispensing drugs.
Since last year, the HSE has wanted both drugs wholesalers and pharmacists to cut their charges significantly in a bid to cut €100 million off its annual drugs bill.
An agreement was made last November to defer the deadline for agreement on a new contract until March 1st to give time for independent arbitration by a leading barrister to take place.
However, the HSE has since then angered pharmacists by sending them a temporary contract that pays them less and would last until a final settlement is reached. Following a major lobbying campaign, Fianna Fáil TDs held a lengthy debate on the issue on Tuesday night at a meeting of the parliamentary party, when they questioned Minister of State for Health, Pat "The Cope" Gallagher.
Minister for Health Mary Harney has been asked to appear before FF TDs and Senators next week to give an up-to-date briefing.
The HSE and the Irish Pharmaceutical Union, which represents pharmacists but which is barred by competition law from agreeing a deal with the HSE, are both to appear before next week's meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children. Yesterday, a succession of Fianna Fáil TDs said they were infuriated that the HSE had attempted "to do their own thing without regard to anybody else" - in the words of one.