Free HRT treatment to be available from June 1 after pharmacies agree to new deal

Minister for health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she was delighted at the resolution reached.

An agreement has been reached on a deal to offer free hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to women from June 1.

A list of participating pharmacies will be published on the HSE website.

The plans had been stalled due to concern from pharmacists a deal originally offered was not viable and would not be possible to implement around the country.

Free HRT — a medicine-based treatment used to relieve symptoms of menopause and perimenopause — had originally been announced last October as part of Budget 2025, with a planned start date of January 1 this year.

The Irish Pharmacy Union has now accepted a revised arrangement, which will see the products — from an agreed list — be made available within weeks.

The deal will see pharmacists receive a dispensing fee of €5 per HRT item, and a €2,000 once-off grant to each participating community pharmacy.

While the fee remains the same as in the original offer, despite the IPU pressing for an increase to €6.50 to match the free contraceptive scheme, the grant has been increased.

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she was delighted at the resolution reached.

“With the full support of the IPU for the free HRT scheme, I anticipate that every pharmacy will now sign up, which I warmly welcome,” she said on Friday.

Our pharmacists and community pharmacies are pillars of the community. They are the most accessible healthcare profession and are hugely trusted by the public.

The funding was announced as a €20m full-year cost investment for the introduction of a State-supported HRT initiative.

The Department of Health said secondary legislation would soon be enacted to remove the prescription charge from HRT products for medical card holders. 

Other legislative changes will follow.

It also acknowledged the shortage of HRT products, which is reflected internationally as well as here.

In light of this challenge, it said reimbursement of alternative products would be supported if there is a shortage of products on the HSE list.