Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will not be surprised to hear I am again highlighting the plight of Ms Vera Twomey and her daughter, Ava, who suffers from Dravet's Syndrome. This family and other families still have to fork out €9,500 every three months to get Bedrocan and they have to wait as long as five to six weeks to get reimbursed. I know the Dutch authorities will not allow the commercial export of the oil-based cannabis products to pharmacies or wholesalers. That is its decision, but being unable to apply to the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, to have it included in the medicinal cannabis access programme, like other products, is something the Minister is in a position to influence.

As the Minister said, he is due to announce funding for the MCAP and he has asked his official to find a way to ensure patients will no longer need to pay upfront for Bedrocan. Yet Ms Twomey and other families are constantly told the Department is working on it and they have to patient. How patient must these families be? Ms Twomey told me this week she is exhausted from the pressure she is under. Can the Minister tell Ms Twomey, Ava and the other families throughout the country Bedrocan will be funded at source and when that funding will be announced?

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