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

I have raised this issue numerous times in the two and half years since I was elected to the House. I understand that over the summer the Minister for Health brought a memorandum to Cabinet on the medical cannabis access programme. Over the summer the Department of Health issued guidelines on the access programme, some of which are quite flawed. It has been going on for a long time and the situation has become ludicrous. A man called Kenny Tynan, a father of four from Roscommon, was granted a licence one month ago from the Department of Health which was signed by the Minister. Today he was sent an email by the medicines management programme to say it would not reimburse the licence. The licence system is unworkable. People are getting licences when they cannot afford them. On average, it costs tens of thousands to go to Holland four times a year to get the medication. The system is completely flawed. In Britain the Tory Government has changed its policy. It is very restrictive but people are at least gaining access to medical cannabis. It saves them going to the black market or going abroad. The situation is unworkable. The Taoiseach has to show leadership. This has been going on for years now. There has to be some sort of clarity either on the licence system, the medical cannabis access programme or the legislation I have put forward.

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