Pharmacists’ dispute - Government must win this battle

IT WAS only a matter of time before some professional group or trade union found itself in court fighting the Government to try to defend fat-of-the-land arrangements made before our economy imploded.

Equally, it was only a matter of time before Government took some representative body or other to court to ensure that services agreed under contract were delivered.

Yesterday, in the High Court, the Health Services Executive won injunctions against 35 pharmacists to ensure that they meet their obligations agreed under a range of lucrative programmes established to deliver drugs to those who need them — one of which is the Community Pharmacy Agreement.