BREAKING: Health Minister announces that HRT products will be free of charge from June 1

The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, is delighted to announce that she has reached an agreement with the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) on a way forward for the Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) initiative to proceed.

With the support of the IPU and their members, the arrangement will see the women of Ireland receive HRT medicines/ products free of charge at the point of dispensing from June 1. 

This agreed HRT arrangement includes the provision of HRT products, prescribed for the treatment of symptoms associated with all stages of menopause, without any charge, to women who are resident in the State. This is in circumstances where HRT has been deemed clinically appropriate for a woman and is prescribed by her healthcare provider.

The arrangement will include a pharmacy dispensing fee of €5 per HRT item and a €2,000 once-off grant to each participating community pharmacy to support transition arrangements including ICT system upgrades.

Minister MacNeill said: “I am delighted that the women of Ireland will be able to receive their HRT medication completely free of charge in participating pharmacies from 1 June 2025.

“With the full support of the IPU for the free HRT scheme, I anticipate that every pharmacy will now sign up, which I warmly welcome.

“Our pharmacists and community pharmacies are pillars of the community. They are the most accessible healthcare profession and are hugely trusted by the public.

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“I hugely welcome the contribution pharmacists make to women’s health and to our health services. I look forward to continuing to work closely with the sector in the coming weeks and months," she concluded. 

As part of Budget 2025, the Minister of Health announced a €20 million full year cost investment for the introduction of a state supported HRT initiative.

Secondary legislation will soon be enacted to remove the prescription charge from HRT products for medical card holders.

Further secondary legislation will be enacted to allow for the inclusion of dispensing fees under the Health Insurance (Amendment) and Health (Provision of Menopause Products) Act 2024.

Given the challenging international HRT supply context and the requirement for greater use of Exempt Medicinal Products, which are unlicensed medicines, the use of the Drugs Payment Scheme architecture will support the reimbursement of EMPs where there is a shortage of an HRT product on the HSE reimbursement list.

This is set out in the circular issued by the HSE on April 15:  https://www.hse.ie/eng/staff/pcrs/circulars/pharmacy/pharmacy-circular-08-25-hrt-arrangements.pdf. 

The HSE will also launch a 'pharmacy finder' on their website so that women can find the nearest participating pharmacy to them.