Mr. Shaun Flanagan:

The products provided under licence are not paid for by the primary care reimbursement service but under the treatment abroad scheme because the medicine, as I understand it, is procured through pharmacies in the Netherlands. On that basis, the system fits in with the treatment abroad scheme. As I understand it, applications have to be made by the clinician responsible for the care and, once received, the HSE tries to process them in as timely a fashion as possible. There may be occasions where individual pieces of information are missing, which delays a decision. There have been parliamentary queries on this which have been responded to in the last week or two. As it is in the treatment abroad scheme, I am not 100% up to date on the licensing part of it. The medical cannabis access programme will be run by the primary care reimbursement service. That is what we are busy planning at the moment.