The IPU has welcomed the appointment of Cora O’Connell as Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO) at the Department of Health, by the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. The role, which was announced on World Pharmacist’s Day on 25 September, will provide strategic leadership for pharmacy and medicines policy across the health service.

The appointment was a key part of the Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025 (CPA25) and reflects the growing role of pharmacy within the Irish health service. The Department of Health said that by providing strategic leadership for pharmacy policy and practice, the CPO will help ensure that the momentum generated through CPA2025 continues, supporting further innovation, integration and improved patient care across the health system.

Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “Cora O’Connell will provide strategic leadership to help advance pharmacy policy, support continued innovation and ensure pharmacists are fully integrated into the delivery of patient-centred care across the healthcare system.”

IPU President Caoimhe McAuley welcomed Ms O’Connell’s appointment and said it was a very exciting time for community pharmacy: “World Pharmacists Day is an opportunity to celebrate the contribution pharmacists make across the country and to recognise the progress that has been achieved through partnership between pharmacists, government and the wider health service. We are proud of the role our profession plays in improving health outcomes and excited about the opportunity to build on that progress in the years ahead, using our skills and expertise to further improve access to care and help create a healthier Ireland for all.”

Ms O’Connell was formerly the Professional Standards Manager at the PSI and was also in the Department of Health where she sat on the Community Pharmacy Expansion Implementation Oversight Group.

The IPU has long advocated for the appointment of a CPO, including in a submission to and presentation at, the Joint Oireachtas Health Committee in March 2023 (see IPU Review September 2023 article ‘Why we need a Chief Pharmaceutical Officer’); in public policy advocacy campaigns in advance of the 2024 General Election, which saw the subsequent inclusion of a commitment to appoint a CPO in several political party manifestos; and in the IPU’s White Paper on Key Enablers for a Sustainable Pharmacy Model (2024). This consistent advocacy saw the inclusion of the recommendation to appoint a CPO in the Final Report of the Expert Taskforce to Support the Expansion of the Role of Pharmacy and in CPA25. The IPU welcomes this appointment and looks forward to working with Ms O’Connell in the future.