Mr. Eugene Lennon:

Yes. However, the licence is unlikely to get through unless there is clear endorsement from the consultant and the consultant is prepared to oversee the treatment and ongoing monitoring of the patient. If that is not the case, the application is unlikely to be successful at the moment. Sometimes there is a period of discussion between the applicant and the Department where more information is sought and sometimes more documentation is produced. Sometimes an application can come in at the start without much substance, but it builds up over time until it can cross the necessary hurdle. To return to the earlier point, we are not talking about an authorised medicinal product, we are talking about an exception. We are talking about a Schedule 1 controlled drug. We are talking about patients that can be quite ill and on a lot of other medications. If their lead consultant is not endorsing the course of treatment there is a difficulty in bringing another substance, which is not an authorised medicine, into the equation.