Billy Kelleher
Ceist:1. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the way he will achieve €780 million in savings in the health budget in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57231/12]
Priority Questions
Departmental Budgets
In the region of €500 million of these savings will be achieved through cost efficiencies and separately through reorganisation under the public service agreement. The majority of savings will have no recourse to front-line activity. However, 2013 will be a challenging year and will require taking a number of tough measures to ensure the most vulnerable are protected.
The following is a summary of measures to be taken by the health group of Votes in order to adhere to the 2013 expenditure ceiling. There will be a reduction in the cost of drugs and other prescribed items, saving €160 million; an increase of the drugs payment scheme threshold to €144 per month, saving €10 million; an increase in prescription charges for medical card holders, saving €51 million; reduced professional fees, saving €70 million; other changes to primary care schemes, saving €32 million; pay related savings of €308 million; increased generation of private income at €65 million; savings on the Department Vote of €60 million; procurement measures saving €20 million; and other measures of €5 million in savings. The total net saving is €781 million.
The Department of Health's own Vote is being reduced by €90 million, with €30 million transferring to the HSE and €60 million in savings. Even allowing for additional expenditure related to the EU Presidency, there will be a reduction in the Department's administrative budget. There will be savings with the National Treatment Purchase Fund, and €25 million of its budget will be transferred to the HSE. There will also be a range of further reductions, including reductions in funding for health agencies.
The Minister would forgive me for raising this question in view of the fact that we had to vote through a Supplementary Estimate last week. The Minister outlined that it was a very small percentage and that overruns are the norm for the health service because it is demand led. Nevertheless, we should set out in 2013 in a way unlike the way we set out in 2012, and there should be a path to the end of the year. We accept that the Minister is paring closer to the bone the whole time but there should at least be identifiable and realistic savings that can be achieved. If these are not achieved in the first half of the year, there is an immediate problem and rather than delaying or prevaricating, does the Minister agree that it would be timely to act? For example, there could be action on the public service agreement and cost efficiencies or pay. If there is discussion about a reduction in core areas, agreement will be required or else there will be confrontation. Has the Minister had discussions with the trade unions or others in that respect?
The Minister recently announced that graduate nurses would be taken on at 80% of the cost of the qualified nurses with whom they would work. Are we beginning to ask the generation behind us - which had no responsibility for anything - to carry the can for everybody? This is a distasteful approach that we are beginning to see evolve. Does the Minister accept that we should be clear that everybody must carry the burden? Asking graduate nurses to carry the burden is unacceptable, regardless of whether the issue is identified as a saving.
The Deputy knows the service plan will be produced and it must come to me within 21 days of the Estimates. That means it will come to me on St. Stephen's Day, or de facto the end of this week. We have had a number of meetings about the issue, with the most recent last night. My colleagues, the Ministers of State, Deputies White and Kathleen Lynch, and I have been actively engaged in the process. As the Deputy notes, we want a very transparent methodology this year in order that we can measure what is happening.
Last year I asked that there would be two-weekly and monthly reporting of financial parameters but that did not happen. It will happen this year. Through several reports, the latest being the Ogden report, we have also identified the deficiencies that lie within the HSE's financial reporting mechanisms. The PA Consulting report set out to confirm this and identify a remedy, which has come about. We have put in place six senior experienced individuals in the financing area, as it was shocking to tell the Dáil that only approximately 10% of people dealing with the finances of the HSE had specific financial training. Is it any wonder we find ourselves in the current position?
I will specifically mention JobBridge for nurses, which is an excellent development that offers the opportunity for nurses who have trained here to stay here and continue training. It will also offer an opportunity to further the experience of these new nurses. I would like to see similar opportunities afforded to people who have studied physiotherapy. These people gained 550 points in the leaving certificate and have done four years in Trinity College, but many cannot find a job when they graduate and are unable to set up a practice on their own. If they could be given a couple of years experience, they would be fit to go into primary care where we need them badly.
I hope the Minister will enjoy the reading the plan over turkey sandwiches on St. Stephen's Day. What happened last year was identifiable as early as March, April, May or June. There may have been overruns in the delivery of services but the clear failings were in the implementation of savings. That is our concern, and there are related issues of political accountability, administration and the publication of legislation by the Department of Health. We are concerned that if an issue is identified early, with a clear path laid out in the service plan, alarm bells can ring so that action can be taken. We do not want people outside Government Buildings like we had last September.
I agree with the Deputy. For far too long there were too many people who were quite happy to describe the problem but failed to do anything about it. Earlier this year people indicated there would be an inability to keep the budget, alluding to the two issues in particular of drugs and insurance. The insurance matter has been dealt with and the drugs issue has been dealt with comprehensively, albeit a little later than we would have liked. Even if those matters had been addressed, there would still have been a significant overrun in the general medical services and the primary care reimbursement service area. We are now moving toward further transparency and accountability, and not alone will we let people know where problems lie, but also we will indicate what will be done about them. It is not good enough for people simply to describe a problem and throw their hands in the air when they are meant to be managing it. That is what we had in the past but it will not happen in future.
With regard to labour arrangements, there have been major changes in how consultants operate. That is being bedded in at the moment. That will give a lead to the other care professionals and the changes in work practices expected to make our health service competitive, affordable and efficient, so that everybody using it can access it as required.
Home Help Service Provision
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Ceist:2. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health if the approximately 950,000 home help hours cut in 2012 will be fully restored; if all individual recipients of home help support who had hours cut in 2012 will have them restored immediately or early in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57247/12]
The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, is currently in the Seanad dealing with equality legislation so I will take this question. The Government policy is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their homes and communities for as long as possible. This is reflected in the HSE service plan for 2012, which includes various community-based services such as mainstream home help, enhanced home care packages, meals on wheels and day or respite care.
These services meet the preferred wishes of many vulnerable older people and reduce pressures elsewhere in the wider care system. Demand for them will increase as the demographics and complex needs of older people change.
The Health Service Executive has developed various operational initiatives to improve nationally its approach to all relevant aspects of its home support services. These include new guidelines for home care and a new procurement framework for approved agencies providing services on its behalf. While ongoing developments have been designed to standardise and maximise the use of limited resources, they also promote quality, safety and equity for providers and care recipients alike. Approximately 100,000 people or 20% of the population aged more than 65 years receive some form of HSE community based supports each year, including home, day and respite care.
I will provide some figures on the outturn for the 2012 target for mainstream home help. Between 2006 and 2011, the number of home help hours provided by the State increased from 8 million to 11.1 million, while the 2012 target for home help hours was 10.7 million. The number of clients benefiting as at 31 December each year has increased from 49,578 in 2006 to 54,000 in 2007, 55,000 in 2008 and 2009, 54,000 in 2010, 50,986 in 2011 and 50,000 in 2012. Funding increased from €185 million to €211 million last year and €205 million will be provided to the service this year. It is our intention to maintain the budget for 2012 in 2013.
In her post-budget speech, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, made a vague claim that there is a commitment on the part of the Government to restore home help hours and home care packages. Questioned by me at a recent meeting of the committee on health, the Minister indicated he intended to restore funding in 2013 to the 2012 level. My core objective is to establish whether the hours that have been cut from people across the board will be restored. This critical question has not been answered. When the Minister indicates funding levels will be restored to the 2012 level, does he have in mind the position that applied at the end of 2011, the position that applied after the loss of 500,000 home help hours in January 2012 or the position that applied after a further reduction of 450,000 hours was introduced on the back of the €130 million in cuts announced at the end of August 2012? The overwhelming majority of those affected by these measures want to know what will be their personal circumstances.
I have cited previously the case of a 94 year old man in my constituency whose 11 home help hours were cut to five hours. In another case, an 82 year old woman in Cork who is acutely ill with clots on her lungs and requires oxygen on a 24 hour basis has had her four weekly home help visits of one hour cut by 15 minutes per day. Her night visits have been removed entirely. In Galway, a mother trying to provide full-time care for her severely disabled six year old son has been robbed of five hours of home help care per week. These are only three cases. The issue here is not only the level of resourcing but also whether the hours that have been removed from deserving people will be restored. Will the Minister provide a categorical assurance that they will be restored as early as possible in the new year?
I restate for the information of the House that the budget for 2012 will be restored for 2013. Given that the circumstances in individual cases change as needs change, it would be inappropriate to state that the hours of every individual will remain the same next year. As circumstances change, some people will need more hours while others will need fewer hours. In terms of home care packages, which are different from home help, it was always the intention to change and rotate them. The classic case is that of a 70 year old gentleman who is discharged from hospital following a hip replacement operation. If his wife has arthritis and finds it difficult to look after him in the early stages, the gentleman will have a nurse visiting as well as physiotherapy and home help. As he makes progress and starts to use one instead of two crutches, the nurse may no longer be needed and after four or five weeks, he will no longer need a physiotherapist and the home help hours can be reduced. The nature of home care is to provide a service to patients at the right time and in the right place and monitor their progress or, in some cases, deterioration.
It is our intention to restore the budget and while I am pleased this will be the case, it does not mean I will not seek greater efficiencies from or look long and hard at the budget. I have asked the Health Service Executive to examine the reason for an apparent differential between the payments made to some private providers and those made to public providers.
I can only interpret from the Minister's reply that he intends to restore the budget to the funding level that pertained prior to 30 August 2012. One can only presume that while he is not saying this clearly, the cuts announced in the Budget Statement of December 2011 for 2012 will stand. Does the Minister accept that the home help hours and home supports being provided are among the most cost-effective elements in the broad health service and that care in the home for people in need of such support generates phenomenal savings? Does he also accept that any deterioration or diminution of this support and service will lead to earlier demand for access to nursing home or similar institutional support, with all the consequential additional costs this will entail? Will he not find in the overall budget the funding required to restore it to the level that pertained prior to January 2012? This would result in the restoration of the 950,000 hours that were taken from home helps in 2012. Ultimately, this issue is one of hours and the hopes and expectations of the many people who have been hurting greatly in recent times.
I am aware of the value of home help and home care services and the need to support people at home. I do not know anybody who wants to go into long-term care before it is necessary to do so. I am also aware that the way in which hospitals are run means people who have finished their acute phase of care are sometimes left in a hospital bed because they do not have anywhere else to go. We introduced a transitional care programme which will address this issue. People who are older and frail will be admitted to specialist wards, have their medical conditions addressed urgently and start rehabilitation immediately. If it is found that this phase is likely to last for four or five days, the individuals in question will be transferred to another facility in the community where their rehabilitation will continue for up to ten weeks. If, during this period, it becomes obvious that they need long-term care, they will be able to go to a transitional long-term care facility until the place of their choice becomes available. This will alleviate much of the congestion in hospitals caused by delayed discharges.
I have issued an instruction to the Health Service Executive that people must be assessed before their hours change. If hours are to change, the assessment should not be such that it results in a person ending up in an institution, whether a nursing home or hospital, as a consequence of the reduction in home help or home care package hours.
Maternal Mortality
Mick Wallace
Ceist:3. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Health his views on the confidential maternal death inquiry in Ireland report for the triennium 2009-2011, which shows that the maternal mortality rate here is double the official figure from the Central Statistics Office; his plans to implement the recommendations of the maternal death inquiry Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57136/12]
Statistics on the causes of death are based on civil registration and compiled internationally by the World Health Organisation, WHO. In the WHO's most recent world health statistics annual report 2012, Ireland had the 13th lowest rate of maternal mortality out of 178 countries reporting data. Maternal mortality is a rare occurrence in Ireland. It must be understood that since there are usually fewer than five such deaths per annum, rates can appear to fluctuate significantly from year to year.
This is particularly so in percentage terms. For example, an increase in deaths from two to four in a given year would lead to an apparent 100% increase in the maternal mortality rate. As such, reports based on data from different years can appear to be contradictory.
It is generally recognised internationally that official vital statistics can result in an underestimate of maternal deaths. In particular, indirect obstetric deaths resulting from previous existing disease or diseases that developed during the pregnancy may be missed in the official statistics. For this reason, Ireland established a confidential maternal death enquiry, MDE, system in 2009. In doing so, it linked itself with the United Kingdom's confidential MDE, which has been acknowledged as the gold standard for maternal death inquiries in recent decades.
It is important to emphasise that if data from a confidential MDE are used, the results can only be compared with the results from other similar inquiries. The recently published report of Ireland's confidential MDE for the 2009-11 period cannot be compared with the civil registration-based rates of other EU countries that do not have MDE systems. Comparisons with the UK's MDE for the 2006-08 period showed that Ireland's rate was approximately 30% lower than the UK's. However, caution must be exercised in interpreting this data because, even when aggregating three years of data, for example, 2009 to 2011, the number of deaths remains small and the rates will be subject to significant fluctuation.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
Variances noted between various reports are a combination of differences in ascertainment - how maternal deaths are identified or found - and definitions. For instance, the international comparisons in table 2 of the MDE report reflect such differences in definitions, calculations, etc. The CSO figures in that table are for 2009 only, are based on live and stillbirths and are based on the date of notification of the death to the CSO. The MDE Ireland figures in that table are for the 2009-10 period, are based on hospitals identifying all women who died of direct and indirect causes and are based on the date the woman was delivered. It is important to state that no matter what definitions are used or how case ascertainment is conducted, Ireland continues to be a safe country for a woman to give birth in and our safety record compares favourably with other developed countries.
The purpose of any confidential inquiry worldwide is to learn lessons about how we provide improved care in the maternity services, which impacts on maternal outcomes. The recent MDE report for Ireland makes a number of valuable recommendations in respect of clinical care and the improved ascertainment of cases. The recommendations will be taken up by the HSE-institute joint working group on maternal mortality. In the short term, the national clinical care programme for obstetrics, which was put in place subsequent to the instigation of the work on this report, will collaborate with health professionals to ensure that all learning from inquiries into tragic events related to pregnancy will be incorporated into service delivery to continue to ensure that care for mothers and babies is as safe as possible. As outlined in the MDE report, since its inception, MDE Ireland has promoted dissemination of recommendations from inquiry reports in order to inform health professionals and to improve maternity services.
I would like to emphasise the importance and benefits of confidential MDE reports in advancing quality and safety within the maternity services and such work will be taken into account in the implementation plan for the new patient safety agency.
I accept that as the numbers are low, just a few can change the percentages dramatically. It is phenomenal that the numbers are so low. I was at each of my four children's births and find it difficult to believe that there are not more problems. The confidential MDE cites a figure that is twice that of the CSO's. For 2009 and 2010, there were 149,000 maternities and 12 maternal deaths in Ireland, a maternal death rate of eight per 100,000 for those combined years. Data on the number of maternities for 2011 were unavailable at the time of writing.
The first of the report's six recommendations calls for a question on pregnancy status at the time of death to be added to the coroner's death certificate. The second recommendation is that interpretative services should be developed to ensure that the care of any patient is not compromised by a lack of communication and any misunderstanding.
The Minister will be familiar with the case of an African woman, Ms Bimbo Onanuga, who died in March 2010. According to her partner, hospital staff would not listen when he repeatedly warned that her condition was deteriorating. It has been reported that 75% of maternities in Ireland in 2010 involved women of Irish nationality, yet 40% of all maternal deaths identified between 2009 and 2011 by MDE Ireland were among women who were not born in this country. That is a bit frightening.
Clearly those statistics on how many births were to women of non-Irish descent must be examined further. If there was a disparity, it would be concerning.
I must agree with the Deputy, in that communication is essential. It is the cornerstone of clinical practice. If one cannot hear what the patient is trying to tell one, the chances of making a proper diagnosis and delivering a proper treatment and best practice are minimal. This is always an area of concern and we must be vigilant. In fairness to the Irish College of General Practitioners, it was the first college to introduce a communication module to its training. Communication should be taught during the training of all health professionals, including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, etc.
Language barriers and cultural differences make a significant difference. Even those who speak English as their normal language use expressions that have entirely different meanings for other cultures. I could supply a few examples that would amuse the House, but doing so in a public place might not be proper. Not to make light of the issue, expressions have different meanings for different people even if the same words are used. I accept the Deputy's concerns on the issue of communication.
I understand that if there is a maternal death in England, an inquiry is automatically held, which is not the case in Ireland. There will be an inquiry into Ms Onanuga's death two years after her death. Would the Minister consider putting in place a structure under which inquiries into maternal deaths would be automatic?
Without being categorical, my understanding is that there is an inquiry whenever there is a maternal death. Earlier this year, there were two such inquiries two days in a row at the same maternity hospital, something that had not happened for decades previously. Two different teams and theatres were involved and both investigations found that the deaths owed to different natural causes and were unrelated to specific practices in either case. Occasionally, there are bizarre coincidences in terms of when these tragic events occur.
To my knowledge, there is an inquiry whenever there is a maternal death. The MDE system has requested that the coroner's courts always report to it if any of their inquests involve a woman who has been pregnant.
Medical Card Eligibility
Billy Kelleher
Ceist:4. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will help cancer patients in severe distress to acquire medical cards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57232/12]
Under the provisions of the Health Act 1970, eligibility for health services in Ireland is based primarily on residency and means. There are two categories of eligibility for all persons ordinarily resident in Ireland, those being, full eligibility, which relates to the medical card, and limited eligibility, which applies to everyone else. Full eligibility is determined mainly by reference to income limits and is granted to persons who, in the opinion of the HSE, are unable to provide general practitioner, GP, medical and surgical services to themselves and their dependants without undue hardship.
There is no automatic entitlement to a medical card for persons who have cancer. There is a provision for discretion to grant a card in cases of "undue hardship" where the income guidelines are exceeded. Recently, the HSE set up a clinical panel to assist in the processing of applications for discretionary medical cards where there are difficult personal circumstances.
There is an emergency process for a person who is terminally ill or in urgent need of medical attention and cannot afford to pay for it that provides a card within 24 hours while the normal application process is being completed. Details of this procedure have been made available to all GPs and social workers. Such applications can be initiated through the local health offices, whose managers have access to a dedicated fax and e-mail contact line to the primary care reimbursement service, PCRS. Once the medical condition is verified by a GP or a consultant and the required personal details are provided, an emergency card is issued to that person for a six-month period. No means test applies to an application in the case of a terminally ill patient.
I thank the Minister of State. Last year, I raised this issue in respect of an individual who was terminally ill and who subsequently passed away. To be fair, the system responded but the reality differs from what the Minister of State claims is occurring on the ground.
The clinical panel that assesses medical card applicants must be strict, given the rate of refusal for cancer sufferers in particular. I have been around Leinster House for 20 years and have always believed that, if one has cancer, one applies in the normal way and the service uses its discretion to grant a medical card based on medical need. That is no longer the case. For example, a woman who has had a mastectomy cannot access a medical card.
It is bizarre, to say the least, that what the Minister of State and the HSE claim is at variance with what is occurring on the ground. According to the Irish Cancer Society, many cancer patients are applying to it for support in accessing treatment. Hospitals are hunting them down for €75 every time they present for chemotherapy. There is something barbaric about this and I ask the Minister of State to consider the issue in the context of next year's service plan.
The issue in regard to the inpatient charge, although related, is essentially a separate matter to the question of the discretionary allocation of medical cards on the basis of an applicant having a specific medical condition. There has never been an automatic entitlement to a medical card, even where a person is diagnosed with a debilitating and deeply stressful ailment, including cancer. The system does not provide for the automatic provision of a medical card in those circumstances. The individual concerned must submit an application. I certainly would expect any such application to be dealt with sensitively and expeditiously. If there was any sense in which that was not happening, it would give cause for concern. I reiterate, however, that there is no automatic entitlement. An application must be made and is assessed on the basis of the medical evidence. As I said, I agree that such applications ought to be expedited.
The €75 charge is relevant because patients with a medical card are exempt from paying it. I accept that there has never been an automatic entitlement to a medical card. What is clear, however, is that the clinical review panel has raised the bar so high in terms of assessing entitlement based on medical need that applicants are increasingly failing to qualify. Of all the issues to be dealt with in the health service, this one is surely deserving of immediate attention. What is happening is at variance with what we are being told in the Dáil. I cannot countenance a situation where people in such circumstances are having their applications rejected by the clinical panel. I acknowledge that there never was an entitlement in this regard, but the situation in practice has, for many years, been that any person with cancer was granted a medical card on the basis of an assessment of need. That is no longer happening and such patients are being charged €75 upon admission to hospital for chemotherapy treatment. It is a very unfortunate development.
At the risk of irritating the Deputy in regard to this sensitive issue, I am obliged to reiterate that there never was an automatic entitlement to a medical card for cancer patients.
I did not claim there was. My point is that cards were, in practice, routinely granted to such patients on medical grounds.
That continues to be the case. If the Deputy is aware of particular instances where this has not happened, we will be happy to examine them. We cannot, hand on heart, offer an absolute guarantee that every such application will be dealt with in an expeditious way, but it certainly should be. It is not clear to me that there has been the type of fundamental change in practice or approach the Deputy describes. As I said, if there are specific cases that have fallen through the cracks in terms of the application process, we would be anxious to address them.
Medicinal Products Licensing
Luke 'Ming' Flanagan
Ceist:5. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for Health when he will introduce legislation for the provision of cannabis-derived products for the relief of pain, spasticity and other effects of ailments such as multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57362/12]
My Department has been informed by the Irish Medicines Board, IMB, that it is in receipt of a market authorisation request from a manufacturer under the European Union's mutual recognition procedure for a medicinal product containing cannabis extract. This product is indicated for the relief of symptoms of spasticity for people with multiple sclerosis. Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, the manufacture, production, preparation, sale, supply, distribution and possession of cannabis or cannabis-based medicinal products are unlawful except for the purposes of research.
My Department is examining how authorised cannabis-based medicinal products for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis may be legally prescribed by medical practitioners and used by patients for the treatment of MS in Ireland. In that respect, departmental officials have been engaging with experts to identify how best to legally describe authorised cannabis-based medicinal products while maintaining existing controls on cannabis and cannabis substances. While the legislative amendments required can be made by means of statutory instrument, the legal issues are complex. The matter is being progressed as quickly as possible in my Department and it is hoped to bring forward legislative proposals in early 2013.
I welcome the undertaking that legislative proposals in this area will be brought forward early in the new year. We now have a situation where 22 separate national authorities in Europe and around the world have granted approval for the cannabis-derived product, Sativex, having recognised the important benefits it provides to multiple sclerosis patients with spasticity. Mr. Ed Holloway, head of care and services research with the MS Society in Britain, indicated recently that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has examined the evidence surrounding Sativex and deemed it a safe and effective treatment for spasticity, paving the way for its licensing in that jurisdiction. This product is not the cure all some claim it to be, but it is helping people in countries throughout Europe and the world.
I hope the Minister of State will fulfil his undertaking that legislation will be introduced early next year. Increasing numbers of people are approaching me to discuss this issue. One man in particular told me a very sad story of how, in order to alleviate his pain and discomfort, he was forced to purchase cannabis from the types of people who shot Veronica Guerin. None of us likes to see money going in that direction. According to this man, he no longer has to wear a nappy when he uses these substances. He has latterly discovered a person in the North who can provide him with Sativex - this transaction is, of course, illegal - which he uses until it runs out, at which point he is forced to use nappies once again. I fully accept that science is not based on anecdote, and I am loath to take that approach myself. However, this person sees clear benefits from using the product in question. It is unfair to people in his circumstances if the current legislative deficit continues for much longer.
I am well known as a campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use. This issue, however, is entirely separate. I would hate anybody to think I am seeking to piggyback on the medical need issue, which would be a disgusting strategy. The two issues are unrelated.
The Deputy raises a very fair point. There is no undue delay in regard to this issue, on which I was briefed when I assumed office. I assure the Deputy that the matter is progressing. We have our own processes in this jurisdiction and cannot rely on licensing systems that are in place in other jurisdictions, although we can certainly have regard to them. The Minister and I are absolutely concerned to expedite the availability of any product that would give relief to persons suffering pain or discomfort such as the Deputy has described. We must proceed in the proper manner, however, and we will do so in as expeditious a fashion as possible.
The people contacting me will be waiting with bated breath for progress on the matter. It is an issue that should have been dealt with a long time ago.
Unlike the Minister, Deputy James Reilly, I am not a medical expert. Perhaps he will undertake to look into the claims by certain individuals that tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the principal component in cannabis, can have positive impacts in the treatment of cancer. I have read a great deal about the matter but am slow to shout about it. My mother died of cancer and the last thing I want is for anybody to be given false hope. However, if there is anything in these claims, I am anxious that they be examined in due course.
We have the very best technical advice available to us both inside and outside the Department. Matters such as the Deputy raised are reviewed as they arise.