Pharmacists are calling on the Government to begin phasing out the €2.50 prescription levy paid by medical card holders, as part of Budget 2017.

In the past, people with medical cards obtained their prescription medicines from pharmacies with no fees attached. However in 2010, a prescription levy of 50c per item was introduced.

This has since been raised to €2.50 per item, up to a maximum of €25 per month per person or family.

According to Darragh Connolly, a community pharmacist in Waterford and president of the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), this charge is a ‘levy against health and wellbeing for many people struggling with various ailments and who have very limited financial resources'.

He pointed to the results of a survey carried out on behalf of the IPU in March of this year, which revealed that 28% of medical card holders said that they ‘think twice' about taking their prescribed medicines because of the costs involved. A further one in seven confirmed that they had not filled a prescription because of the levy.

"Putting economic barriers in the way of vulnerable patients taking their medicine doesn't make sense. For example, people living with heart disease, or at risk of the disease, should be focusing on getting better and keeping well, not worrying about how they will pay for their next vital prescription.

"Poor adherence to treatments, especially in the case of chronic illness and long-term patients, will mean more hospital stays, more pressure on our already struggling health service, and more costs to the Exchequer in the treatment of these patients in the long run," Mr Connolly insisted.

The IPU is calling for a phasing out of the levy, or at the very least, the exclusion of especially vulnerable patients from having to pay it, such as homeless people, palliative care patients and people with intellectual disabilities.

"Patients need to be supported, not penalised," Mr Connolly added.

Budget 2017 will be announced on October 11.