‘Very normal’ part of ageing
Cork County Council is to ask the Department of Health to outline a clear timeline for the roll-out of free hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for women experiencing menopause.
The medicine, which can cost up to and above €60, was originally supposed to be made freely available in Ireland from 1 January this year after €20 million had been set aside for the scheme in Budget 2025.
Speaking at Monday’s full meeting of Cork County Council, Fianna Fáil councillor Audrey Buckley said she has been contacted by many individual women and women’s groups in her constituency wondering why the scheme has been delayed.
Cllr Buckley said: “The population of Ireland is 51% women.
“Every single one of us at some point or another goes through perimenopause and menopause. It’s a very normal part of the ageing process,” she added.
One of the reasons for the delay in the scheme’s roll-out is reported to be an issue surrounding the dispensing costs charged by pharmacies for the medicine, something the Department of health says it doesn’t have the budget to cover.
However, the Irish Pharmacy Union has said it is open to engaging with the department on the matter, with one suggestion being to combine the new HRT scheme with the existing free contraception scheme.
Cllr Buckley continued: “I know a factor that came into it was the dispensing fees from pharmacies.
“I know across three different pharmacies for the exact same prescription, one was €23.59 for the prescription; another, €33.95; and another, €44.12 for the same prescription,” she said.
Fianna Fáil councillor Gillian Coughlan said women are being forced to make a choice between their own healthcare and or expenses.
She said: “It’s a choice in the household budget; are you going to pay for your own healthcare or does that money have to go somewhere else? Particularly with the rising cost of living and the cost of raising families.
“Certainly, pharmacies need to reduce their dispensing fees and make it more accessible for the Government to proceed with this,” added Cllr Coughlan.
Asked about the issue in the Dáil last week, Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD said the Government set aside money to pay for the products but not the dispensing fee for pharmacists.
She said: “I have met the pharmaceutical union. I am engaging with it to see if there is something we can do but the reality is we do not have the budget to carry the dispensing fees.
“Patients are being charged €48 or €62 or whatever the fee is, but you do not see the breakdown of the cost. If a woman is getting two HRT products, for example, she is paying two dispensing fees, which might be €7, €8, €9 or €10 per product. We intend to cover the cost of the medication. If we were to extend the budgetary allowance for that, I would have to take that from somewhere else and that would mean we would not be able to do something else. I am trying to find a resolution,” said the minister.