I propose to take Questions Nos. 352 and 353 together.
I wish to advise the Deputy that the drug mentioned by him is not reimbursed under the General Medical Services and community drug schemes. However, there is a drug which contains the ingredient of the drug mentioned, which is reimbursable under the schemes.
The specific drug mentioned by the Deputy is only authorised as a medicinal product in Ireland as an additional therapy, within a comprehensive medical and psychological treatment programme, for detoxified patients who have been opioid-dependent. It is not authorised in Ireland or member states of the European Union for the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis. An application for a clinical trial would have to be submitted by the manufacturer or a clinician to the Irish Medicines Board with the relevant supporting document. The trial would have to receive ethics approval and be supervised by a consultant neurologist.