The medical card prescription levy should be phased out as it is an ‘unfair and harsh tax' on patients, pharmacists have insisted.

Prior to 2010, medical card patients could obtain all of their prescription medicines free of charge. However, in 2010, a prescription levy of 50 cent per prescription item was introduced.

This figure has been increasing ever since and in Budget 2014, it was increased from €1.50 to €2.50 per prescription item (up to a maximum of €25 per month per person or family).

Ahead of the announcement of Budget 2016, the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) has said that at the very least, vulnerable patients should be exempt from paying the charge. However, it wants to see the levy eventually phased out for all patients.

"This is an unfair and harsh tax on patients trying to keep themselves well and in good health. It is ill-conceived and definitely not a win-win situation for the health service or the Exchequer and it needs to go. Many patients, particularly those on fixed incomes, just cannot afford to pay the levy, which has increased substantially since it was first introduced," commented IPU president, Kathy Maher.

She said that as a result of the costs involved, some patients are ‘gambling with their health', by either cutting down on their medication or stopping it altogether.

"The ultimate outcome is sicker patients with more complex medical needs, needing advanced care in an already extremely overburdened health system. The continuation of the levy is creating more future demand for a health service that is already struggling to cope," she insisted.

The Government recently signed regulations which exempt asylum seekers living in direct provision from having to pay the levy. This was in response to evidence that increased charges have caused hardship among this group.

The IPU said that while this is a welcome move, ‘the same concession should now apply to other equally vulnerable patient groups'. It believes a number of vulnerable groups should be exempted from the levy as part of Budget 2016, including patients in residential care settings, patients with intellectual disabilities and homeless patients, including those in homeless shelters.

Budget 2016 will be announced on October 13.