We need local chemists — not global predators
A group was set up to make recommendations on regulating pharmacies. Worryingly, part of its terms of reference was to "increase competition". Worrying because perhaps the World Trade Organisation is demanding that a business with a community service ethic should be turned into just another money-grabbing enterprise.
As a recent article in the Inside Government magazine correctly put it: "Pharmacists, not businessmen generally, control Irish pharmacies; it keeps pharmacy a patient-focused sector, not one where emphasis is on sales and maximisation of turnover."
