The ongoing shortage of some 300 prescription-only medications is causing significant stress for many people. This is compounded by news articles stating that pharmacists are being left with no alternative but to dispense substitute medications that have not been authorised or registered for use in Ireland. This has happened despite the fact these medications, known as exempt medicinal products, can be legally supplied to patients by qualified pharmacists to meet their health needs in the absence of their regular product. Many patients across Tipperary and the wider country feel confused and unsettled. Elderly people and the parents of young children are particularly concerned when a medication they have been familiar with for years is replaced by one they do not recognise. This threatens to undermine plans to expand the role of pharmacists in healthcare. Does the Department of Health have plans to stage an information campaign to inform people of the need for this substitute medication and to give them a reassurance that they are proper and safe?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. An information campaign is a very good idea and is one I would welcome, and I will talk to the Minister in respect of that.

Medicine shortages are, unfortunately, a feature of modern health systems worldwide and are a global health problem now. However the medicines regulator here, the HPRA, has said that while individual brands or strengths of a medication may be temporarily unavailable, for the vast majority of medicines there are appropriate substitutions such as different strengths, brands or similar classes of medicines available. For example, while one strength of a particular medicine may be in short supply, there can be dozens of other strengths of the exact same medicine available. Some of these products may be generically interchanged, often without the need for the involvement of a GP or prescriber. In most cases patients can still access the medicines they need. We have a medicines shortage framework in place which is operated by the HPRA. I will come back to the Deputy on the matter of a public information campaign.