The Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) has welcomed the announcement of three new university programmes to provide education to the next generation of pharmacists. The IPU says the announcement will help Ireland to overcome the critical shortfall of pharmacists and the country’s over-reliance on Britain or the North of Ireland for training.
The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Innovation, Research and Science, Patrick O’Donovan TD, announced the establishment of the new programmes in Atlantic Technological University, South-East Technological University, and University of Galway. In total, this is set to double Ireland’s education of pharmacists each year.
Welcoming the development, IPU President Tom Murray said: “Community pharmacies in Ireland have been struggling to recruit for several years. This is a result of not training enough pharmacists in Ireland. The issue was highlighted in an IPU workforce survey in 2022, which recommended that the Department of Health and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science should undertake a detailed review of current pharmacy undergraduate places to determine if adequate numbers of pharmacists are being trained to meet future pharmacy workforce demands.
“We are delighted that our efforts in highlighting this issue have been recognised… at a time when there are exciting opportunities within the sector with the role pharmacists play in frontline healthcare expanding. It also aligns with the Expert Taskforce recommendation, which called for an increase in the number of university undergraduate pharmacy places.
“Ireland already has a great reputation in training pharmacists in our three existing pharmacy schools, with Irish-trained pharmacists renowned for their expertise and professionalism, which is reflected in the trust that patients have in their pharmacist,” he continued.
“We welcome [the] announcement that this shortfall is to be comprehensively addressed, and we look forward to working with each of the higher education institutions as they establish their programmes.”
