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Ireland

Pharmacy Act, 1962

In short

This law amends and expands existing laws related to pharmacy, primarily focusing on who can operate a pharmacy and sell poisons, and how pharmaceutical titles are used. It ensures that the dispensing of medical prescriptions and sale of poisons are supervised by qualified individuals.

What it regulates

  • The conditions under which a shop can dispense medical prescriptions.
  • The conditions under which a shop can sell poisons.
  • The use of specific titles and descriptions related to pharmacy, such as "pharmaceutical chemist" or "registered druggist".
  • The power of the Council to make regulations for training and examinations for registration.

Who it concerns

  • Individuals and bodies corporate who keep open shop for dispensing medical prescriptions or selling poisons.
  • Individuals who use titles or descriptions related to pharmacy.

Key points

  • A shop dispensing medical prescriptions must be supervised by an "authorised person" (a registered pharmaceutical chemist, registered dispensing chemist and druggist, licentiate of Apothecaries Hall, or certain registered medical practitioners).
  • A shop selling poisons must be managed by an "authorised person" or a registered druggist.
  • Using titles like "pharmaceutical chemist" or "registered druggist" is restricted to those who are actually registered.
  • Contravention of these rules can lead to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and for continuing offences, a further fine not exceeding ten pounds per day, or imprisonment up to six months, or both.
Legal text
Legal text

Pharmacy Act, 1962 Skip to content Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Gaeilge Léim go dtí an t-ábhar Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach English Gaeilge English Produced by the Office of the Attorney General Táirgthe ag Oifig an Ard-Aighne Home Legislation Acts of the Oireachtas Statutory Instruments Pre-1922 Legislation Constitution External Resources Bills (Houses of the Oireachtas) Iris Oifigiúil / Official Gazette Revised Acts (LRC) Classified List of Legislation (LRC) Translations (acts.

  1. ie)Translations (Houses of the Oireachtas) Government Publications for Sale EU Law (EUR-Lex) FAQ Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Search Baile Reachtaíocht Achtanna an Oireachtais Ionstraimí Reachtúla Reachtaíocht Réamh-1922 Bunreacht Acmhainní Seachtracha Billí (Tithe an Oireachtais) Iris Oifigiúil Achtanna Athbhreithnithe (CAD) (An Coimisiún um Athchóiriú an Dlí) Liosta Rangaithe Reachtaíochta Aistriúcháin (achtanna.
  2. ie)Aistriúcháin (Tithe an Oireachtais) Foilseacháin Rialtais ar Díol Dlí AE (EUR-Lex) CCanna (Ceisteanna Coitianta) Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach Cuardach TitleTeideal Year(
  3. s)or rangeBliain nó blianta nó raon TypeCineál All Legislation Acts Statutory Instruments Advanced SearchCuardach Casta HomeBaile ActsAchtanna 1962 Pharmacy Act, 1962 Pharmacy Act, 1962 Permanent Page URL View by SectionAmharc de réir Ailt View Full ActAmharc ar an Acht Iomlán Bill History Stair Bille Commencement, Amendments, SIs made under the Act Tosach Feidhme, Leasuithe, IRí arna ndéanamh faoin Acht Print Full ActPriontáil an tAcht Iomlán Number 14 of 1962. PHARMACY ACT, 1962. ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Section 1. Definitions. 2. Keeping of open shop for dispensing medical prescriptions and sale of poisons. 3. Restriction on use of certain titles, emblems and descriptions. 4. Regulations for courses of training and examinations for candidates for registration. 5. Foreign qualifications. 6. Charging of fees by the Council. 7. Fellowship of the Society. 8. Restriction of section 22 of the Principal Act. 9. Amendment of section 28 of the Principal Act. 10. Repeals. 11. Short title, construction, collective citation and commencement. SCHEDULE. Acts Referred to Amendment Act, 1890 1890, c. 48 Pharmacy Act (Ireland), 1875 1875, c. 57 Poisons Act, 1961 1961, No. 12 Pharmacy Act, 1951 1951, No. 30 Number 14 of 1962. PHARMACY ACT, 1962. AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE ENACTMENTS RELATING TO PHARMACY. [25th June, 1962.] BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:— Definitions. 1.—In this Act— “the Act of 1890” means the Pharmacy Act (Ireland), 1875, Amendment Act, 1890; “the Council” means the Council of the Society; “licentiate of Apothecaries Hall” has the meaning assigned to it by the Principal Act; “the Minister” means the Minister for Health; “the Principal Act” means the Pharmacy Act (Ireland), 1875; “registered” means— (
  4. a)in relation to a dispensing chemist and druggist, registered in the register of dispensing chemists and druggists, (
  5. b)in relation to a druggist, registered in the register of registered druggists in Ireland, and (
  6. c)in relation to a pharmaceutical chemist, registered in the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists for Ireland; “the Society” means the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. Keeping of open shop for dispensing medical prescriptions and sale of poisons. 2.—

(1)A person shall not keep open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions unless— (
  1. a)the person is an authorised person and the shop and the dispensing and compounding of medical prescriptions therein are personally supervised by the person or by an authorised person, or (
  2. b)the person is— (
  3. i)the legal personal representative of a person who at the time of his death was lawfully keeping open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions, or (
  4. ii)the trustee or committee of a person lawfully keeping open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions who is adjudged bankrupt or becomes an arranging debtor or becomes of unsound mind, and the shop and the dispensing and compounding of medical prescriptions therein are personally supervised by an authorised person, or (
  5. c)the person is a body corporate and the shop and the dispensing and compounding of medical prescriptions therein are personally supervised by a person who is a registered pharmaceutical chemist, a registered dispensing chemist and druggist or a licentiate of Apothecaries Hall and is employed by the body corporate in a whole-time capacity and is not acting in a similar capacity for any other body corporate or any authorised person or on his own behalf.
(2)A person shall not keep open shop for the sale of poisons unless— (
  1. a)the person is either an authorised person or a registered druggist and the shop is personally managed by the person or an authorised person or a registered druggist, or (
  2. b)the person is— (
  3. i)the legal personal representative of a person who at the time of his death was lawfully keeping open shop for the sale of poisons, or (
  4. ii)the trustee or committee of a person lawfully keeping open shop for the sale of poisons who is adjudged bankrupt or becomes an arranging debtor or becomes of unsound mind, and the shop is personally managed by an authorised person or a registered druggist, or (
  5. c)the person is a body corporate and the shop is personally managed by a person who is a registered pharmaceutical chemist, a registered dispensing chemist and druggist, a licentiate of Apothecaries Hall or a registered druggist and is employed by the body corporate in a whole-time capacity and is not acting in a similar capacity for any other body corporate, any authorised person or any registered druggist or on his own behalf.
(3)In this section “authorised person” means a registered pharmaceutical chemist, a registered dispensing chemist and druggist, a licentiate of Apothecaries Hall, or a registered medical practitioner who, before the commencement of this section, began a course of study to be gone through for the purpose of obtaining a qualifying diploma, within the meaning of the Medical Practitioners Acts, 1927 to 1961, or a corresponding qualification awarded outside the State and who has passed or passes an examination in pharmacy in order to qualify for the grant of the qualifying diploma or the award of the corresponding qualification outside the State.
(4)This section shall not apply in relation to the keeping of open shop for the sale of poisons by any person or class of persons specified in regulations made under section 14 of the Poisons Act, 1961 , where the keeping of open shop is in accordance with the provisions of the regulations.
(5)The Council shall, with the approval of the Minister, make such regulations as the Council thinks appropriate— (
  1. a)for the purpose of giving full effect to and ensuring compliance with the provisions of this section, including provisions requiring— (
  2. i)the keeping of records in relation to premises where open shop is kept for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions or the sale of poisons and in relation to persons employed in such shops, and (
  3. ii)the furnishing of statements and returns, and (
  4. b)in relation to the keeping of open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions or the sale of poisons by the persons referred to in paragraph (
  5. b)of subsection
(1)and paragraph (b) of subsection
(2)of this section, including regulations prohibiting the keeping of such open shop by those persons after the expiration of periods specified in the regulations (unless authorised by the Council to do so for periods specified by the Council) and regulations specifying either the same or different such periods for different purposes.
(6)A person who contravenes a provision of this section or of regulations under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding ten pounds for each day on which the offence is continued, or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine or fines and such imprisonment.
(7)Where an offence under this or the next following section is committed by a body corporate or by a person purporting to act on behalf of a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any default on the part of, any person being, in the case of a body corporate, a director thereof, or, in the case of an unincorporated body, a member of the committee of management or other controlling authority thereof, that person shall also be guilty of the offence.
(8)Any summons or other document required to be served for the purpose or in the course of proceedings under this or the next following section on a body corporate may be served by leaving it at, or sending it by registered post to, the body at any place in the State at which it conducts its business. Restriction on use of certain titles, emblems and descriptions. 3.—
(1)A person shall not, in connection with any business or employment, take or use the name or title of pharmaceutical chemist, either alone or in combination with any other word or letters, or take or use any name, title, addition, description or certificate implying that he is registered in the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists for Ireland or is recognised by law as being so registered, unless he is so registered.
(2)A person shall not, in connection with any business or employment, take or use the name or title of dispensing chemist and druggist, either alone or in combination with any other word or letters, or take or use any name, title, addition, description or certificate implying that he is registered in the register of dispensing chemists and druggists or is recognised by law as being so registered, unless he is so registered.
(3)A person shall not, in connection with any business or employment, take or use the name or title of registered druggist either alone or in combination with any other word or letters, or take or use any name, title, addition, description or certificate implying that he is registered in the register of registered druggists in Ireland or is recognised by law as being so registered, unless he is so registered.
(4)A person shall not use in connection with any business a title, emblem or description reasonably calculated to suggest that he or a person employed in the business possesses a particular qualification with respect to the selling, dispensing or compounding of drugs or poisons unless he or the person so employed, as the case may be, possesses the qualification.
(5)For the purposes of subsection
(4)of this section, the use of any of the following descriptions, namely, pharmacy, medical stores, drug stores, drug hall, medical supply stores, chemist, in connection with a business carried on in any premises and consisting of or including the selling by retail of drugs or poisons shall be deemed to be reasonably calculated to suggest that the person managing and conducting the business on those premises is a registered pharmaceutical chemist, a registered dispensing chemist and druggist or a registered druggist.
(6)A person who contravenes any of the preceding subsections of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, together with, in the case of a continuing offence, a further fine not exceeding four pounds for each day on which the offence is continued.
(7)This section shall not apply in relation to the use by a licentiate of Apothecaries Hall who keeps open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions or the sale of poisons of the description of medical hall in respect of the premises where the dispensing or compounding or the sale is carried on. Regulations for courses of training and examinations for candidates for registration. 4.—
(1)The Council may, in accordance with regulations made by the Council with the approval of the Minister, provide or make provision for the courses of training and examinations to be taken by candidates for registration in any of the registers maintained by the Society and the regulations may specify the manner in which and the conditions under which training shall be provided and may, in particular, provide— (
  1. a)for the approval by the Council for the purposes of the regulations of lecturers, teachers and examiners, (
  2. b)for the conditions of admission to the examinations, (
  3. c)for the recognition and approval by the Council of courses of study and training and of examinations of institutions or bodies other than the Society where the Council are satisfied that the institutions or bodies are suitable for the provision of such courses or the holding of such examinations, (
  4. d)that the institutions or bodies referred to in paragraph (
  5. c)of this subsection shall comply with requirements specified in the regulations before recognition of their courses or examinations is granted by the Council, (
  6. e)for the granting of certificates to persons taking the courses and passing the examinations.
(2)On the commencement of regulations under this section— (
  1. a)section 21 of the Principal Act shall cease to have effect, and (
  2. b)the reference in section 22 of the Principal Act to the provisions of that Act shall be construed and have effect as a reference to the provisions of regulations under this section. Foreign qualifications. 5.—The Council may, in accordance with regulations made with the approval of the Minister, cause to be registered in the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists for Ireland a person who applies for such registration and shows to the satisfaction of the Council that he has undergone, outside the State, such courses of training and passed such examinations as are specified for the purpose in the regulations. Charging of fees by the Council. 6.—
(1)The Council may charge fees for any registration, restoration to a register, certificate, course of instruction provided by the Council or examination conducted by the Council, which is authorised by or under the enactments relating to pharmacy.
(2)The Council may charge entrance fees in respect of elections to membership of the Society under section 6 of the Principal Act and may charge annual fees in respect of membership of the Society.
(3)The Council may charge annual fees in respect of the retention on registers maintained by the Society of persons who are not members of the Society.
(4)The amount of any fee under this section shall be such amount as may from time to time be determined by the Council with the consent of the Minister, and fees of different amounts may be determined— (
  1. a)in respect of membership of the Society by persons on whom the title of Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland has been conferred pursuant to section 7 of this Act and in respect of such membership by other persons, and (
  2. b)in respect of the retention on registers maintained by the Society of persons referred to in subsection
(3)of this section who keep open shop for the dispensing or compounding of medical prescriptions or the sale of poisons or are employed in a shop so kept and in respect of such retention of persons referred to in the said subsection
(3)other than those aforesaid.
(5)Payment of the appropriate fee under this section shall be a condition precedent to the entertainment of any application by the Council for any registration, restoration to a register or certificate, or for admission to any course of instruction or examination which is authorised by or under the enactments relating to pharmacy.
(6)References in section 2 and subsection
(5)of section 3 of this Act and in section 14 of the Poisons Act, 1961 , and the regulations under the said section 14 to any of the following persons, namely, a registered pharmaceutical chemist, a registered dispensing chemist and druggist and a registered druggist, shall be deemed not to include references to any such person in respect of whom a fee payable pursuant to subsection
(3)of this section is due and unpaid. Fellowship of the Society. 7.—The Council may confer on any person the title of Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. Restriction of section 22 of the Principal Act. 8.—So much of section 22 of the Principal Act as provides for the registration of licentiates of Apothecaries Hall as pharmaceutical chemists shall cease to have effect— (
  1. a)as respects persons who, at the commencement of this section, are licentiates of Apothecaries Hall, on the 31st day of December, 1963, (
  2. b)as respects persons who, before the 31st day of December, 1962, are registered in the Apothecaries Hall as students of the Hall, on the 31st day of December, 1970, (
  3. c)as respects any other persons, on the 31st day of December, 1962. Amendment of section 28 of the Principal Act. 9.—Section 28 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after “twelve months” of “or to be fined an amount not exceeding one hundred pounds”. Repeals. 10.—
(1)The enactments specified in the Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.
(2)Regulations made pursuant to paragraphs
(2)and
(6)of section 16 of the Principal Act and in force at the commencement of this section shall continue in force and be regarded as having been made under the corresponding provisions of this Act, and they shall be capable of being amended or revoked accordingly. Short title, construction, collective citation and commencement. 11.—
(1)This Act may be cited as the Pharmacy Act, 1962.
(2)The Principal Act, the Act of 1890, the Pharmacy Act, 1951 , and this Act shall be construed together as one Act and may be cited together as the Pharmacy Acts, 1875 to 1962.
(3)This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as, by order or orders made by the Minister under this section, may be fixed therefor either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions. SCHEDULE. Enactments Repealed. Section 10 . Section and Chapter or Number and Year Short Title Extent of Repeal 38 & 39 Vict., c. 57. Pharmacy Act (Ireland), 1875. Paragraphs
(2)and
(6)of section 16; sections 23, 30 and
  1. 53 & 54 Vict., c.
  2. Pharmacy Act (Ireland), 1875, Amendment Act,
  3. Sections 15 to
  4. No. 30 of
  5. Pharmacy Act, 1951 . Sections 4 and
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