David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Having listened to speakers this afternoon, on behalf of the Minister for Health I am left in no doubt that this is clearly a very important matter for Deputies and many members of the public as well. I thank Deputies for the work that has gone into this and for taking part in today's debate. We must all remember that the fundamental issue we are discussing is whether the Bill will progress to Committee Stage rather than the general issue of cannabis usage. There seems to be consensus among colleagues that this should happen.

Some of us are around here long enough to know if there is very flawed legislation, it might not be possible to amend it and sometimes it is better to start from scratch, redraft the legislation and resubmit it. Most colleagues I have listened to have said there are serious flaws in the legislation so the committee will have a challenge in addressing them. It may well be the case that the committee might have to start again and redraft the legislation. It might be considered if a Bill is so fundamentally flawed, and the easiest thing might be start again. However, we are where we are.

The Bill has been carefully examined by the committee and the report indicates the Bill has fundamental flaws that could lead to many undesirable and unintended consequences for patients and wider society. I know the committee put much time and work into this and took the matter very seriously. Deputy Harty chaired those discussions. There are medical professionals in the House who have also expressed their opinions, and Deputy Brassill spoke very strongly from his experience. We must listen to that too.

The Bill places the regulation and oversight of medicinal cannabis under a completely different and separate legislative and regulatory framework to all other held products. This appears to be an attempt to bypass the existing well-established rules in place for the protection of public health and safety. We are on new ground and we must proceed carefully. The legal advice obtained by the committee refers to major legal issues with the contents of the Bill. Currently, there is very little clinical evidence on the safety and effectiveness of many cannabis products and we must proceed cautiously as a result. After all, we agree that cannabis is not a normal medicine and it has not gone through the normal assessment procedures and clinical trials for medicines, which are designed to protect patients. Therefore, we must take great care in making such products available for patients.

It is my view and that of the Minister for Health that a system of accessing cannabis for medicinal use must be introduced on a gradual basis under appropriate clinical supervision, and only for those patients recommended for such treatment by their treating consultant. These consultants are experts in their patients' medical conditions and they are best placed to monitor carefully a patient's response to cannabis treatment, including improvements or deterioration in a patient's medical condition. This level of clinical involvement limits the level of risk to a patient's overall health.

As I said, the expert reference group established by the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to develop the operational, clinical and practice guidelines for the access programme has made great progress in finalising the clinical guidelines for prescribing cannabis for medicinal purposes under the programme. It is also important to note it remains open to consultants to prescribe cannabis treatment for a patient if granted a licence to do so by the Minister for Health. In such cases, it is the decision of the patient's consultant to prescribe cannabis for a patient under his or her care. It is also the decision of the prescriber to make an application to the Minister for Health for such a licence. I advise any consultant considering this option to consult the Department of Health directly for more information.

I thank the Chairman and members of the health committee for their thorough examination of this Bill and their work in preparing this report of scrutiny of the Private Members' Bill. It appears the majority want the Bill to proceed to Committee Stage and the Government will not oppose it at this time. We have listened very carefully to the debate. I wish the committee the very best in amending this legislation, as it will be a major challenge. Like Deputy Kelleher and some others, I have been around this House for quite a while dealing with very complex legislation and I know this will not be easy. One must be very careful not to have unintended consequences at the end of the process that could result in much damage. The Government will not oppose the amendment to the motion and it will not support the motion.

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