Pharmacy Act 2007
Complaints about registered pharmacists.
35.— (1) This section applies to a complaint made to the Council about a registered pharmacist on the grounds of—
(a) professional misconduct within or outside the State,
(b) poor professional performance within or outside the State,
(c) impairment of the registered pharmacist’s ability to practise because of a physical or mental ailment, an emotional disturbance or an addiction to alcohol or drugs,
(d) a failure to comply with a condition of registration,
(e) a failure to comply with an undertaking or to take any action specified in a consent given in response to a request under section 46,
F31[(ea) a failure to comply with Chapter 2 or 3 of Part 2, or Part 3, of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013,
(eb) a failure to comply with any duties referred to in section 18(1A) imposed on the pharmacist by regulations made under section 18.]
F32[(ec) a failure to comply, in his or her capacity as a registered pharmacist, with a provision of an Act or statutory instrument referred to in section 7(1)(e)(ii),
(ed) the imposition on the pharmacist of—
(i) a prohibition against him or her providing one or more than one kind of health or social care in the State or another jurisdiction, or
(ii) a restriction on his or her ability to provide one or more than one kind of health or social care in the State or another jurisdiction,]
(f) a contravention of this Act F33[…], or
(g) a conviction in the State for an offence triable on indictment or a conviction outside the State for an offence consisting of an act or omission that, if done or made in the State, would constitute an offence triable on indictment.
(2) A complaint must be in writing or, if not, in a form acceptable to the Council.
(3) A complaint may be made by or on behalf of any person or by the registrar.
(4) The Council shall inform the registered pharmacist about whom a complaint has been made of that fact and give the registered pharmacist a copy of the complaint.
(5) The Council shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the complainant and the registered pharmacist are kept informed of the making of all decisions by it in relation to a complaint.
(6) The Council shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that a complaint is processed in a timely manner.
Annotations
Amendments:
F31
Inserted (24.06.2013) by Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013 (14/2013), s. 32(c), S.I. No. 202 of 2013.
F32
Inserted (13.02.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 61(a)(i), S.I. No. 54 of 2021.
F33
Deleted (13.02.2021) by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 61(a)(ii), S.I. No. 54 of 2021.
F34
Inserted by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 61(b), not commenced as of date of revision.
F35
Substituted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 37(a), (b), not commenced as of date of revision.
F36
Inserted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 37(c), not commenced as of date of revision.
Modifications (not altering text):
C7
Prospective affecting provision: subs. (3B) inserted by Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Act 2020 (16/2020), s. 61(b), not commenced as of date of revision.
F34[(3B) (a) The registrar may, in relation to a complaint heard, being heard or to be heard by a committee of inquiry, whenever he or she considers it necessary to do so, request in writing the Garda Síochána to give to him or her information concerning the criminal record of the registered pharmacist the subject of the complaint that the committee may reasonably require for the performance of its functions.
(b) The Garda Síochána shall, subject to section 55 of the Data Protection Act 2018 , comply with a request under paragraph (a) as soon as is practicable after receiving the request.
(c) The registrar may, whenever he or she considers it necessary to do so, request in writing that the registrar or clerk of a court which has convicted a registered pharmacist of an offence in the State to give to him or her a certificate of conviction (or, in the case of the District Court, a certified copy of the order concerned made by the Court), or a certified copy of the judgment, or both, in respect of the offence that the registrar or Council (including any committee thereof), or both, may reasonably require for the performance of his or her or its functions under this Act in relation to that pharmacist.
(d) The registrar or clerk of the court concerned the subject of a request under paragraph (c) shall comply with the request as soon as is practicable after receiving the request.
(e) In this subsection, "criminal record", in relation to a registered pharmacist, means a record of the previous convictions (other than spent convictions within the meaning of section 5 of the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016 ) of the pharmacist for offences (if any).]
C8
Prospective affecting provision: subs. (1)(ea) substituted, subs. (3) amended and subs. (3A) inserted by Health Identifiers Act 2014 (15/2014), s. 37, not commenced as of date of revision.
35.— (1) This section applies to a complaint made to the Council about a registered pharmacist on the grounds of— ...
F35[(ea) a failure to comply with—
(i) Chapter 2 or 3 of Part 2, or Part 3, of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013, or
(ii) a provision of the Health Identifiers Act 2014 applicable to a pharmacist in his or her capacity (if any) as a health services provider within the meaning of section 2 of that Act,]
...
(3) F35[Subject to subsection (3A), a complaint] may be made by or on behalf of any person or by the registrar.
F36[(3A) A complaint shall not be made by a person other than the Minister if the ground concerned is a registered pharmacist’s failure to comply with a provision referred to in subsection (1) (ea)(ii).]
...