There is a possibility that, like many professions, there is a risk of holding familiarity in contempt. By this, I mean that many people within the profession just seem to see the negatives of community pharmacy rather than the positives that flow for all of us every day. There is, of course, the weaponisation of discontent, the malaise that affects all areas of life. The social media bubbles that stoke faux and real outrage and paradoxically isolate rather than connect. We have our challenges, but it is still a deeply rewarding profession. Every day is different and, if you like meeting people, you are already somewhere where your social skills will be challenged every day. Unfortunately, that is the good news. The storm clouds are massing. Many are general, but there are core ones that affect the profession specifically.

Community pharmacy in Ireland, as of 2025, seems to be lurching from inflexion points to crossroads. Issues about our future are coming thick and fast. We are left balancing the growing amount of prescriptions, regulations, PSI consultations and a Government that sometimes seems to think pharmacists should run on caffeine and goodwill alone. In a landscape that is full of commercial challenges, Irish pharmacies soldier on, whether delivering flu vaccines or simply coping with new regulations, doing what we do best. But under those clean bright suspended ceilings, there are more than just bandages and bonemeal tablets, there’s a growing list of challenges. We do a great job of masking them, as both customers and prescribers seem to think that the almost inevitable cheery greeting, in many pharmacies, means that all is well.

How have we, Irish pharmacists survived a 17-year fee freeze? Despite expanding roles, pharmacies are paid the same for dispensing drugs as they were at the last property crash. More new services, such as moving to prescribe for common conditions, are vital, but the funding to actually pay for these tasks remains cloaked in mystery. The IPU have been feverishly working to deliver a structure over the past four months. There will be results that we will be delighted with and there will be things that we feel could have been done better. Guess what? That is the essence of negotiation. You are always going to swallow some medicine on the basis that it will be a net positive. Like the rest of the community pharmacy pool, I have no clue about what is happening. But I do have faith in both the leadership and the executive of the Union. By the time you read this, we will hopefully have a structure upon which we can hang our professional ambitions.

A few important figures: Between 2009 and 2022, pharmacy revenue dropped by over 24 per cent, while the cost of running a pharmacy jumped by nearly 29 per cent. Core income from community drug schemes shrank by a third, while staff wages rose as much as 20 per cent in recent years. The phrase ‘viable pharmacy’ has become endangered, especially for independents outside city centres. Over 10 per cent of Irish pharmacies now operate at a loss; in some rural areas, the lights flicker a little more as closure threatens each month. Ally this with demographics. Our population has increased from 3.5 to 5.5 million over the last 40 years. There is a large amount of ageing, polypharmacy consumers, already here. This is going to be a defining pressure on all primary care providers.

We need to be able to work smarter. Many pharmacists are running close to empty, with work pressures being all consuming.  While AI holds much promise, at the moment it seems to be just another tool, and it isn’t going to dispense a prescription safely anytime soon. Qualified staff are increasingly expensive and, as pharmacist roles expand, we really need to plan more how they can share the burden. We are hamstrung by the pharmacist ‘must do’ everything and cannot delegate to competent, well-trained technicians. The future of pharmacy will be busy. We need to make sure it is viable.