Post offices will remain open with measures in place to ensure the safety of staff and customers.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says the government will do whatever is needed to cope with the impact of coronavirus.

"The people who signed the new contract are currently getting support payments for the next 18 months."

The Irish Pharmacy Union is proposing a scheme by which women could access contraception directly from their community pharmacist without a prescription and without charge.

Allowing women to access contraception from their pharmacist without a prescription would “dramatically improve access to essential healthcare for thousands of women”, Ireland's main pharmacy union has said.

Postmasters are concerned about the Government plan to tender the contract for the collection of TV Licence fees.

Some 15,000 people suffering from chronic illnesses may face delays in receiving their medicines due to a new ordering system for special drugs brought about by the HSE.

Between 200 and 300 post offices could be forced to close over the next 18 months unless they are granted access to government services.

The Irish Postmasters’ Union has demanded a long-term commitment that social welfare payments will continue to be transacted through post offices, and has also called for a timeline for new services.

Post Offices are to offer a wider range of services in an effort to keep their business viable.

The Government’s €30m loan to An Post that it says will allow the organisation to modernise and keep rural post offices open has been met with a mixed reaction.

The Irish Postmasters’ Union is to meet Communications Minister Denis Naughten on Thursday to demand the Government invest more in the postal network.

Post offices should become the primary mortgage providers for first-time buyers, according to the Public Banking Forum of Ireland.

The Irish Pharmacy Union has lobbied the Government to make nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) available to medical-card holders who want to quit smoking.

This week is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) awareness week.

Possession of small amounts of illegal drugs should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal one, Irish Pharmacy Union president Daragh Connolly told the organisation’s national conference in Croke Park today.

Postmasters from around the country are calling on the Government to take action to expand the services offered by the Irish post office network.

Medical card holders will no longer have to go to their GP for a prescription for the morning-after-pill from July 1.

The union representing the country’s postmasters has called on An Post to support new services and innovations across its network in a bid to save post offices across the country.

Postmasters have said they are upset and worried over reports that the scale of post office closures being planned may be far greater than previously thought.

There has been a spike in flu-like symptoms around the country.

The Government is set to come under intense political pressure from postmasters disgruntled at lack of progress in implementing a plan to revitalise and modernise their businesses.

A working group to transform post offices into “social hubs” offering numerous community, financial, and retail services has been established.

A decision on a multi-billion euro deal between the State and pharmaceutical companies, on price cuts, is imminent.

The taxpayer is spending millions of euro on €37.75 standard packs of erectile dysfunction drugs, though alternative generic versions are a quarter of the cost.

Postmasters are pleading with the Department of Social Protection to stall the switch from cash to electronic welfare payments until they have time to introduce new e-payment accounts for recipients.

Newly elected president of the Irish Pharmacy Union, Daragh Connolly, said patients sometimes wait weeks for a supply of what is often a very common medicine.

Customers are to face tough restrictions when buying over-the-counter cold and flu medicines from pharmacies in a bid to curb Breaking Bad -style crystal meth manufacturing labs.

We have to recognise the value of post offices to the country’s social and economic infrastructure, according to IPU general secretary Ned O’Hara

Welfare chiefs will shut down post offices by pushing social welfare recipients to use banks instead, postmasters have warned.

Up to 17% of people who have had sex with someone outside of a steady relationship did not use any form of protection.

A pilot scheme that will see medical card holders treated for minor ailments at a pharmacy instead of a GP office is to be rolled out in March.

Small rural post offices could receive up to €20,000 a year in government subsidies to stay alive.