Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the Minister's submission on budget 2021. The additional personal assistant, PA, hours and additional funding for disability services are welcome. The decongregation of services for those who are living with a disability in a community setting is very welcome.

On a different issue, I raised the medical cannabis access programme with the Minister a while ago. The response I have been getting from the Department is very frustrating. Many people and families who campaigned last year were hopeful that the change in the law last year would mean they would get access and that the access programme would be up and running. However, the Minister got a memorandum during the summer which stated that there was no specific budgetary allocations for the programme, which meant that the programme would not be up and running. This programme has been flagged for the past three and a half years. If we think about it, it makes sense. Fifty people in the State have licences for access to medical cannabis but there is no joined-up thinking in terms of how those children are doing and how people are getting funding for this drug. It is extremely frustrating. Can the Minister make a commitment on when the medical cannabis access programme will progress and start?