Written answer
Medicinal Products
The HPRA said all detained medicines were for human use, mostly personal imports bought online, with India, China, Poland, the UK and US prominent sources.
438. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Health the number of times the Health Products Regulatory Authority detected illegal sales of prescription medications; if they were animal or human medications; where they were coming from, in each of the past 12-months, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [75232/26]
Comment on this
The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) is the agency with responsibility for the regulation of medicines in Ireland and has an enforcement role with regard to the sale and supply of falsified and illegal medicines
The HPRA works in close co-operation with colleagues from An Garda Síochána and Revenue’s Customs Service. There continues to be significant inter-agency collaboration to combat the illegal supply of health products into and within Ireland. The HPRA also co-operates and shares intelligence with other regulatory and law enforcement agencies across Europe and worldwide to prevent the illegal manufacture, importation and distribution of medicines, medical devices, and cosmetics.
The number of enforcement cases and associated detentions are provided below for the period July 2025 to June 2026. ?The majority of these detentions are personal importation detained at port of entry into the Country and had been sourced through online sales channels:
*Dosage units = individual tablets, capsules, vials, etc.
All detentions are human medication. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) regulate the importation, supply, and use of veterinary medicines.
Detentions come from a wide range of destination countries. The most prevalent in the reporting period above were India, China, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
The HPRA continually warns the public that sourcing prescription medicines outside of a registered pharmacy and without appropriate medical supervision poses a significant risk to health. Products obtained through online or other unauthorised channels fall outside the regulated supply chain, meaning their quality, safety, and origins cannot be assured. These medicines may be counterfeit, mislabelled, or contain harmful or ineffective ingredients. Using such products can result in serious adverse effects and represents a real but fully avoidable danger to public health.