Public consultation on draft Education and Training Rules and Guidelines to support the Contraception Prescribing Service
This consultation welcomes feedback on documents the PSI has developed in support of the new Contraception Prescribing Service in pharmacies. The consultation is open from 10 August to 2 September 2026.
About the Contraception Prescribing Service
A new pharmacy service, the Contraception Prescribing Service, is being developed. This service will enable pharmacists to provide repeat prescriptions for specified forms of contraception to women aged 17 years and over, following an initial prescription from a GP.
The Contraception Prescribing Service will mirror the regulatory framework in place for the Common Conditions Service. The Department of Health, the PSI, HSE and others are progressing the legislation, clinical protocols, guidance and training needed for this new pharmacy service to be established in community pharmacies.
The primary legislation, the Health (Provision of Contraception Prescribing Service in Retail Pharmacy Businesses) Act 2026, to enable the service has been signed into law and the other enablers are being progressed.
Proposed education and training and regulatory supports
As with implementation of the Common Conditions Service, the PSI’s role is to ensure that pharmacists have the necessary education and training and regulatory guidance available to them to deliver a safe and effective contraception prescribing service for patients.
Pharmacists intending to deliver the Contraception Prescribing Service will be required to successfully complete an online training programme, which will be available through the Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP).The proposed training approach for the Contraception Prescribing Service is in line with the training in place for the Common Conditions Service. The standards for pharmacist training are set out in the draft PSI (Education and Training Required to Prescribe Medicinal Products in Accordance with the Contraception Prescribing Service) Rules 2026.
The PSI has also updated the Guidelines to support safe implementation of the Common Conditions Service in pharmacies to incorporate the requirements for new Contraception Prescribing Service, as both services follow the same regulatory framework.
About this public consultation
During this public consultation we are seeking feedback on:
1. Statutory Education and Training Rules:
New PSI Education and Training Rules are proposed that will underpin pharmacist training for the Contraception Prescribing Service.
The rules set out the education and training requirements for pharmacists who wish to participate in this new service. The proposed approach is in line with the framework in place for the Common Conditions Service.
Review the draft Rules:
2. Revised Guidelines:
The Contraception Prescribing Service follows the same regulatory framework as the Common Conditions Service. The Guidelines to Support the Provision of a Common Conditions Service have been updated to include the new Contraception Prescribing Service. For ease of review, all changes made to the guideline to include the contraception prescribing service are clearly visible using blue tracked changes.
Review the draft Guidelines:
How to provide feedback to this public consultation
This consultation gives pharmacists, patients, the public, representative organisations and all interested stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback on the draft PSI rules and revised PSI guidelines before they are finalised. You may wish to comment on either or both of the documents.
Please read the consultation documents provided in the section above. You can provide your feedback by 5pm on 2 September in one of the following ways:
1. Online questionnaire
The fastest way to provide your feedback is by completing this consultation survey.
2. Email
You can also provide your feedback by email to consultation@psi.ie.
The consultation documents should take approximately 15–20 minutes to review. The consultation survey should then take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
If you have any questions or need assistance accessing the consultation, please contact us at consultation@psi.ie.
What happens next?
We value and appreciate all input received as part of public consultations. After the closing date, the PSI will assess and collate all feedback and draft a consultation report that will be considered by the PSI Council and published at a later date on our website. Any further changes proposed from the consultation feedback will be reviewed and decided on by the PSI Council.
Data Protection and Freedom of Information
The information provided to PSI consultations will be stored in a secure and confidential manner by the PSI. It will only be used for the purposes outlined and it will be deleted in line with the PSI’s record retention policy. After each public consultation we publish a consultation report on this website that contains a summary of comments received, the PSI response to those, and a list of any organisations that have given their feedback, where provided. Please note that submissions made to the PSI as part of public consultations are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014.
For further information you can read about the changes to pharmacy practice that are being introduced to expand the range of healthcare services available to people in Irish pharmacies.
