Philip Boucher Hayes

speaker

3,375 appearances 85 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 6 Aug

Philip Boucher Hayes’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 85 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 58.

Appearances

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Today with David McCullagh · What makes continental pharmacies so good · 31 Jul 2026 podcast

Cathy Marr from Dulig Pharmacy and me, also former president of the Irish Pharmacy Union, as I say, what's your view of this? voice-verified

Let's be honest about that though, Cathy, that process. voice-verified

You know, it's a series of questions that frankly could be beaten by a five-year-old because they can figure out pretty quickly what answers the pharmacist assistant needs to hear. voice-verified

Is there any evidence though, Cathy, that all of those questions and making people jump through those hoops has actually protected anybody or is the same availability effectively there in Irish pharmacies as is on the continent? voice-verified

You can explain to most consumers quite easily why something like melatonin is a serious drug and does need to be given under medical supervision. voice-verified

It's a lot harder, isn't it, when you're looking at things like the cosmetic products that Rebecca was mentioning? voice-verified

to say why you can't get azelaic acid at a very low concentration for treatment of skin blemishes. voice-verified

I mean, is that where we're perhaps a little bit too nanny-ish? voice-verified

So many of the questions coming in are related to price rather than to availability, like one from Amanda. voice-verified

She says, hello, Philip. voice-verified

My mother forgot her blood pressure medication coming to visit me in Paris. voice-verified

She got a prescription from Dublin. voice-verified

We filled it in France. voice-verified

She couldn't believe that the monthly supply only cost her eight euros. voice-verified

I take it that comes down to economies of scale once again. voice-verified

Does he mean that there's an argument to be made for centrally at a European level regulating what medications we can get? voice-verified

Or would you like to or prefer to, should we be jealously guarding Ireland's own ability, sovereign ability to decide what medicines are sold in Irish pharmacies? voice-verified

But that's not the point that I'm making here. voice-verified

What I'm saying is that what's medicine for a German person is going to be medicine for an Irish person. voice-verified

So why not achieve the economies of scale by having one European regulatory authority deciding what can and can't be sold rather than creating cost, creating barriers to free competition by having an Irish and a German and a French medicines regulatory authority? voice-verified

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