Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
384. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the reason for the refusal of Enterprise Ireland to consider hemp-based businesses for online supports; and her views on whether Enterprise Ireland is acting in a discriminatory manner against a legitimate business which is contrary to European law. [12384/20]
View answerI understand that Enterprise Ireland (EI) is currently not in a position to support companies active in the area of cannabis-based products.
EI’s position is based on the fact that, while EU regulations permit a threshold of 0.2% of THC in hemp products, products containing any trace of THC are considered as a controlled drug in Ireland under the Misuse of Drugs Orders. In other words, there is no lower limit of THC permissible under national legislation.
Therefore, products which can contain even minimal levels of THC pose reputational risk to EI as the agency is not in a position to verify which companies, products and extraction methods meet the legal requirement in Ireland to contain 0.00% levels of THC.
