Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 November 2018
165. Deputy Michael Harty asked the Minister for Health when a money message will be sanctioned to allow the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health to proceed with Committee Stage of the Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill 2016, as directed by Dáil Éireann on 9 November 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50028/18]
View answerI continue to support the recommendation of the Health Committee that the Bill, in its current form, should not proceed to Committee Stage, and the recommendations of the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) that access to cannabis, if permitted for medical purposes, should only be initiated under the direct supervision of an appropriate medical consultant, as part of a clearly defined monitored access programme.
Pending full operation of the upcoming Medical Cannabis Access Programme, doctors continue to utilise the Ministerial licencing route to prescribe medical cannabis for their patients. Licences have now been granted for twelve individual patients, the majority of whom are obtaining their medical cannabis from a Dutch pharmacy on foot of their medical prescription.
