PHARMACISTS WILL SOON be able to prescribe medicines for common conditions such as shingles and cold sores.

The then-Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said in August 2025 that it was his department’s intention that pharmacies would be providing the service for eight common conditions by the start of 2025. 

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill today approved the measures under a new Common Conditions Service.

It will enable pharmacists, for the first time, to prescribe medicines and provide treatments for eight common conditions, including; Allergic rhinitis; cold sores; conjunctivitis; oral thrush; shingles; impetigo; UTIs / Cystitis; and vulvovaginal thrush.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) has launched training which must be completed by pharmacists who wish to deliver this service in their own pharmacies.

All interested pharmacies must sign up to the service by 1 December and must deliver the service to the public by 31 March 2026.

The Department said it’s anticipated that the service will be made available to the public over the next few months, as pharmacists begin to participate in the necessary education and training. 

Minister Carroll MacNeill said this will help “guarantee faster access to treatment for common conditions” and will “enable the public to access care in the right place, at the right time, by the right healthcare professional”. 

She’s encouraged all pharmacists to avail of the training.

Meanwhile, Joanne Kissane, Registrar and Chief Officer of the PSI, said this “expanded role for pharmacists builds upon their existing knowledge and expertise in medicines and clinical care”.

She added: “It is our role, as the pharmacy regulator, to ensure that pharmacists have the necessary training and other regulatory support to deliver this new service safely and effectively to the public. 

“Pharmacists who will provide the service are required to undertake additional training that is now available.”