The free HRT controversy: 'I am tired of pharmacists being taken for granted by the State'

The women of Ireland are losing out because the Government does not value our work 

On Budget Day 2025, then health minister Stephen Donnelly announced the rollout of free HRT products.

I’m sitting here, after a gruelling week, on top of what has been an exhausting few months for the Irish Pharmacy Union trying to resolve the initial promise of free HRT.

Last week, more than 600 pharmacists joined a webinar outlining why we could not endorse the minister’s €5 dispensing fee. One email captured the mood perfectly — "I am tired, after devoting the last 31 years to the profession, of being taken for granted by the State".