Temporary Relocations

If a pharmacy is temporarily relocating to a new premises, for a maximum period of one year, to allow for the renovation or refurbishment of its registered premises, the owner is required to apply for this change through the PSI Registration portal.

Should the pharmacy not return to the original premises within 12 months, it will be classified as a new pharmacy. Consequently, the pharmacy owner will be required to submit a first-time registration application due to permanent relocation and pay the associated fee. For guidance on the application process and related information, kindly refer to our First Time Registration - Pharmacies page. 

The existing registration of the pharmacy, its registration number and the registration certificate expiry date, is not affected by a temporary relocation, and the continued registration fee is payable when it becomes due. 

It is an offence under the Pharmacy Act for pharmacy owners to open or operate a premises following a temporary relocation of a registered retail pharmacy business unless and until it is so approved, and the other requirements of Part 5 of the Act are also fully complied with.  

Legislative Background 

All temporary relocations of registered retail pharmacy businesses must be carried out in accordance with the current legislation and in particular with the provisions of:   

  • the Pharmacy Act 2007  
  • the PSI (Retail Pharmacy Businesses) (Registration) Rules 2008 (S.I. No. 495 of 2008)- these Regulations set out the requirements that applicants must comply with and the procedures and timelines which will be followed by the PSI in carrying out its functions in relation to the registration of pharmacies   
  • the Regulation of Retail Pharmacy Businesses Regulations 2008 (S.I. No. 488 of 2008) made by the Minister for Health under Section 18 of the Pharmacy Act 2007. The Pharmacy Practice Guidance Folder will aid compliance with the Section 18 Regulations.  

Registration Process Overview 

Application for temporary relocation of a Retail Pharmacy Business is a two-stage process. Pharmacy owners must submit valid applications via the PSI's registration portal for both 'temporary relocation' and 'temporary relocation return'.  

Application for both stages must be submitted at least 60 days before the planned opening date. This timeframe is to ensure that the application will be examined and any necessary inspection can be carried out in a timely manner, so that the premises concerned is registered as a Retail Pharmacy Business.

Stage 1 - Temporary Relocation  

Stage 1 involves the Retail Pharmacy Business's temporary relocation from the original premises to the temporary premises.  

Once Stage 1 is complete and the PSI has approved the temporary relocation, the original premises will no longer be considered a Retail Pharmacy Business.  

Stage 2- Temporary Relocation Return  

Stage 2 involves the return of the Retail Pharmacy Business from the temporary address to the original premises.  

The pharmacy cannot return to its original premises until such application has been approved by the PSI. 

Required Information

The following details will need to be provided during the application process. We recommend you gather all the necessary information before beginning your application: 

Stage 1 - Temporary Relocation:

  • Proposed new temporary premises address 
  • Telephone number of proposed new temporary premises 
  • Email address of proposed new temporary premises 
  • Approximate date of relocation 
  • Approximate duration of occupancy at the proposed address 
  • Approximate date of relocation back to the original premises 
  • Pharmacy opening hours and services it intends to provide.  

Stage 2- Temporary Relocation Return:

  • Original Retail Pharmacy Busies address 
  • Telephone number of the original premises 
  • Email of the original premises 
  • Approximate date of return to the original premises 
  • Pharmacy opening hours and services it intends to provide.  

Required Documents

The following documentation must be uploaded as part of the retail pharmacy business ‘temporary relocation’ and ‘temporary relocation return’ application:  

  1. Evidence of professional indemnity cover in respect of the operation of the retail pharmacy business     
  2. One set of plans of the retail pharmacy business layout   

This plan should:   

  • identify the dimensions of the area of the Retail Pharmacy Business (in m2)    
  • Identify the dimensions of the dispensary and the area in which pharmacist supervised medicines are stored (in m2)   
  • Identify patient consultation area(s)   
  • Clearly demarcate the professional services and retail areas   
  • Identify any storage areas where medicinal products or pharmacy records are located   
  • Detail the postal address of the building in which the premises is situated    
  • Detail any other relevant information   
  • Be drawn to scale or be copies of plans drawn to scale     
  • Identify the entire premises in which the Retail Pharmacy Business is situated and the use/business use of the other parts of the premises
  1. Site Maps of the location of the retail pharmacy business   
  • If the pharmacy is in a shopping centre, please provide a map indicating where the shopping centre is in the locality and another map indicating the location of the pharmacy within the shopping centre.     
  • If the pharmacy is on a hospital campus, please provide a map of the location of the hospital pharmacy on the campus and another map indicating the location of the pharmacy within the hospital.    
  • If the pharmacy is in an urban area, town or village, please provide a map indicating the location of the pharmacy in the urban area, town or village.   
  • In circumstances where there are no street numbers in your area, your location map should be sufficiently accurate to be able to identify the exact location of the proposed retail pharmacy business   

Inspection

As part of the registration process for a temporary relocation and temporary relocation return it may be necessary for the pharmacy premises to be inspected. An inspection cannot be scheduled until a complete and valid application has been submitted to the PSI.  

Once a complete and valid application is received, it will be reviewed and a PSI Quality Assessor (Authorised Officer) will contact you to arrange a suitable date and time for the inspection to be carried out. The inspection must be carried out at least 10 working days before the pharmacy is due to be registered and open to patients and the public. Please refer to the Inspection Checklist which outlines the requirements that must be in place before an inspection of the pharmacy can be carried out.   

Failure to have such requirements in place at the time of inspection will delay the registration process.  

The PSI has also developed a Security Assessment Template, in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, to aid pharmacy owners and superintendent pharmacists in assessing the security of their pharmacies.  

The PSI Quality Assessor will provide a report after the inspection visit, which will be issued to the nominated Superintendent Pharmacist. The report will indicate the standards and requirements that have been met and any actions required to be addressed, with a deadline for their completion.  

Failure to complete the required actions may delay the registration process.

When a satisfactory response has been provided to the PSI in relation to all identified required actions and all matters have been addressed, the inspection process is complete. An email is sent to the nominated contact to close off the inspection process and to inform them that the file has been transferred to Registration for final review.    

Note that the completion of the inspection stage does not mean registration is confirmed.

Relocation Protocol

When relocating a pharmacy, you will be required to submit a detailed relocation protocol as part of the inspection process. This relocation protocol will be reviewed by a PSI Quality Assessor.  

The relocation protocol must provide detail on how you will transfer medicines and patient records from the premises that you will be closing to the newly relocated premises.  

You must detail how, by whom and in what order stock (including controlled drugs, cold chain medicines, all pharmacy medicines, pharmacy only medicines and GSL medicines) and patient records will be moved from the existing premises to the premises to which you are relocating. All medicines to be relocated must be done so under the supervision of a registered pharmacist i.e. one pharmacist is to be present at the closing premises (if medicines are still present), one pharmacist transferring stock and one pharmacist in the new premises (if medicines are present).  

In addition, a stock check of controlled drugs must be completed prior to the move from the old premises and the stock check must be completed again when they have arrived at the new premises.  

Please note that once medicines are relocated to the new premises they must be under the personal supervision of a registered pharmacist whilst the premises is open, even if the pharmacy is not yet registered. For example, if construction work is still ongoing.  

The protocol should also detail the way patients will be notified of the move from the old premises to the new premises.  A copy of this plan must be submitted to PSI for review. 

Temporary Relocation Application Fee

During the online application process for stage 1 ‘temporary relocation’, at the final step you will find instructions on how to complete the payment including the amount to be paid. This fee covers both the move to the temporary premises and the move back to the refurbished premises, provided the relocation is for a period less than twelve months. 

Payment can be made online using a credit/debit card or through an Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)/Bank Transfer. If you choose to pay by a bank transfer, the Fee Demand Notice (FDN) details will be available to download. This document will include the unique FDN number to be used as a reference, PSI's bank details and the amount required be paid. If you do not include the FDN in the payment reference, you must send an email to info@psi.ie with the application number and payment details to prevent any delays in processing your submitted application. 

For further information please visit our fees page.

Contact Us

You can contact a member of the Registrant and Customer Relations Team at rpbreg@psi.ie call us on +353 (0)1 218 4000 if you have any questions.