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THERE ARE MULTIPLE investigations into a number of pharmacies which have been accused of effectively defrauding the State out of significant amounts of money in the last 10 years by making fraudulent pharmacy claims, TheJournal.ie has learned.
The HSE is carrying out at least ten Clause 16 investigations against several pharmacies in Ireland. A Clause 16 inquiry is the name given to serious internal investigations carried out by senior members of the health service.
Investigations are now ongoing into pharmacies based in north Dublin, Wicklow, Louth and Limerick. TheJournal.ie understands that this is not the entire number of pharmacies being investigated and it is believed more are being looked at.
The majority of these investigations centre around the practice known as phased dispensing.
Phased dispensing is used to prevent excessive or incorrect dosing by the patient. Instead of giving patients a month’s supply of their medication, they are given one week’s supply at a time.
This means pharmacies can claim dispensing fees for each time that the patient returns.
The HSE is investigating prescription claims made by the pharmacy as far back as 2013. The pharmacy can initially claim for €5 for the first dispensing fee. It can then claim over €3 for each additional phased claim.
Last week, TheJournal.ie revealed that a pharmacist, who has already been suspended from practicing due to other legal matters, was also being investigated for fraud.
Separately, the HSE is currently in the process of clawing back €10 million in dispensing fees it believes a number of pharmacies overclaimed. The HSE is carrying out a much wider investigation into a number of pharmacies which it suspects may have overclaimed for prescription charges.
TheJournal.ie understands that the total money being queried by the HSE runs into the hundreds of thousands of euro. A number of pharmacies have been sued by the HSE in recent months in relation to similar incidents.
A spokeswoman for the HSE said: “Due to the sensitive nature of Clause 16 investigations, the HSE is not in a position to comment in respect of this enquiry.”
Speaking in relation to phased dispensing, a spokesperson for the Irish Pharmacy Union said: “This is a vitally important facility for certain patients who cannot safely and effectively manage their medication regimen. Phased dispensing allows a patient’s pharmacist, family members and carers to support and ensure the safe and proper use of the medicine by the patient.
“If an allegation has been made, the pharmacist concerned is entitled to a proper investigation before any conclusion is reached.”
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Interesting ploy. Look at the detail in his conditions.
We’ll sell the 29% stake to any *EU* airline, subject to approval from a *majority* of Aer Lingus shareholders.
- So he won’t sell to Etihad, long through to be a potential suitor for Aer Lingus
- He won’t sell a partial stake or reduce their shareholding
- The majority vote likely requires the Irish government to get involved.
What EU airline is going to buy a stake in Aer Lingus? I doubt the other budget players have the cash (or willing), and half the national flag carriers are broke.
This is posturing, not putting the Aer Lingus stake up for sale.
Nail on the head Ronan
its Eu competition law eitihad arent from the eu!
You forgot to mention… We will sell Aer Lingus to any EU airline*
*and then attempt to takeover that airline and get our grubby hands on both out of Irish jurisdiction.
@Paul
I think that’s the point – O’Leary is posturing and bluffing, not actually trying to sell his stake. Etihad are an airline that might actually want to buy the stake, so Ryanair have excluded them from their ‘offer’.
Etihad can never own over 49% of an EU airline due to EU rules, I wonder would they benefit from 30 odd percent in Aer Lingus, to be fair its a pretty damb cheap price if they were..
Etihad can never own over 49% of an EU company….however they own just 29.1% of Air Berlin but they pull the strings. Percentages don’t always give the whole story.
By stipulating “50.1%” and “EU airline only” Ryanair are deliberately excluding the most likely candidate to buy their share of Aer Lingus. No hedge funds and no Ethiad permitted equals PR stunt.
Virgin America is 75% held by a US based holding corporation as Virgin group being British, can’t own an airline in the US.
That’s Business! It’s not Sports! Michael O’Leary is Ireland’s #1 Business Man.
He is a Eire Nua prat
To the reality Tv generation maybe.
Something tells me you also think Justin Bieber is worlds greatest musician….
Great business man… 6 1/2 years of failed attempts and the man can’t pull off a hostile takeover. I think that gets you a spanking at Harvard business school.
But throw his picture in the papers every other week and have all the sheeple dumbed to the point they cant tell whats news or a reality Tv show saying ‘OMG! I like totes can’t believe he said that or is gonna do that, can’t wait to see what happens next week’ and your a great business man by popular vote…
So Andrew – tell me what company you took to the forefront of European business and changed the face of making it copied the world over?
Seamie o Leary admits he copied it from Southwest Airlines in the US after Tony Ryan sent him to take a look at it. Not his idea but having said that it seems to be doing alright.
@ Andrew. Have you ever heard of the long game? Are lingus is just a you for them anyway, it’s Micky mouse.
@ Andrew. Have you ever heard of the long game? Are lingus is just a you for them anyway, it’s Micky mouse.
Brilliant, looks like they have given up on trying to buy Aer Lingus
Or are they attempting to prove that no-one else wants it?
Greatest Irish business, the best of the 21st century!
Greatest Irish business? stupid comment
Please explain how it isn’t a successful business.
It’s a top 3 airliner in Europe originating in one of the smallest countries in the EU.
Just because O’Leary is a pr#^k doesn’t mean he isn’t a great businessman. One of our best.
Yes Adam I agree with you Aer Lingus have been a top class business and a top class employer for three quarters of a century now .
Ryanair has made it affordable to travel. I still find Aer Lingus fares extortionate in most cases. Can you image without the Ryanair competition what Aer Lingus fares would have been during the Celtic Tiger years??
Conor is my brother
Us Powers know what we’re talking sbout
Connor I agree we owe Ryanair a lot as they have made air fares all over Europe cheaper. However I dont think you can claim Aer Lingus is extortionate. Especially when you take into account the extra charges and the airports they fly to.
Ok I’ll tone it down from extortionate to exorbitant.
I’m surprised Aer Lingus haven’t gone out of business with how low their fares are. Flying to Heathrow with AL is cheaper then with Ryanair to a crap airport like Stansted. But yes if it weren’t for Ryanair the fares would be still extremely expensive. AL’s long haul flights are really cheap as well in comparison to all other carriers available when I come home from the US.
Not really the greatest.. not yet.. they still have CRH to contend with and there are a bunch of others around them that you do not hear too much about.. but every bit as innovative and well run..
@ Cooper. Ross is correct. It’s a tactic.
@ Bill. Largely at the tax payers expense. The company hasn’t made a profit in decades. So it’s a badly run inefficient business. In stark contrast to Ryanair which employs many more people and makes a profit.
@cooper. Ryainair revolutionized accessibility to air travel in Europe. Don’t underplay it. Flights to London in the 80s were 500pounds and more.
So you have flown to LHR and stansted and you prefer LHR? Are you insane?
@simonjblake when was the last time taxpayers money was used to prop up Aer Lingus ?
Could you also estimate the massive amount of tax etc paid by its employees over seven decades think you will find the latter greatly exceeds the former and by the way you won’t be paying much tax to the government on a Ryanair minimum wage
Simonjblake I’m not underestimating what Ryanair have done for air travel in Europe I acknowledged it above we owe them alot.
LHR is better for both getting into London and connections onwards. I do it a few times a year
Read Wikipedia and you find the answers to all your remarkable questions. Where do you think the states involvement was upto the 2006 flotation? At 4:1 employee numbers in favour to ryanair you probably are right that more tax is generated by aer Lingus employees due to the fact they are overpaid. If you genuinely believe AL is better then Ryanair then I hope you have no influencial roles in life bar maybe what brand of baked beans your wife buys.
Simonjblake your comment about baked beans kinda gives the game away that you are a Ryanair employee you can’t obviously afford to eat anything else
Why all the begrudgers? 30 years ago Irish people were paying Aer Lingus 200 punts to get to London, today we are paying an equivalent of about 40 punts, thanks to Ryanair.
Michael O’ Leary doesn’t court popularity but he carries multi thousands of Irish and other Europeans to many destinations at very affordable fares.
And if Ryanair take over Aer Lingus then expect extortionate fares all round again. It wasn’t Ryanair that brought prices down. It was competition. O’Leary wants to do away with that now that Ryanair is the larger of the two.
Ive never heard an Irish person say 200 punts.
Only right. It’s like Sky having a 25% stake in UPC. Ridiculous.
Cannot wait until this wee Man falls, just like the mighty Quinn.
It’s far more likely you’ll fall….. and O’Leary wouldn’t give a toss.
He’s not a foolish gambler like Quinn was.
The best thing about Ryanair is that you can avoid most of the plebs when you fly Aer Lingus.
I used to have to travel to Belfast to get home to Scotland pre-ryanair as Aer Lingus was so expensive. Have their critics like all companies but have a big fan here.
Making an offer to sell something to demonstrate a point will have the CC tied up in knots. They cannot consider another EU airline as being substantially any different to Ryanair as regards competition. However, the effect of the combined actions of the UK CC and the Irish Government will be seen to have an effect of the value of the Ryanair shareholding.
This is not an offer to sell. It’s O’Leary holding up a mirror.
Hope they sell to an airline in the Star Alliance.
Why? Why not a One World or Sky Team airline?
Star Alliance are the best quality of the alliances. Aer Lingus is a similar standard so why not?
Michael O’Leary reminds me of Bono. Both prats, but you can’t deny both of them are the heads of very successful international groups.
So, they’re NOT going to sell unless another airline manages to buy 50.1% first?
The British, as usual, have a damned cheek!!
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