Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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115. To ask the Minister for Health the changes since the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, confirmed to Dáil Éireann on 15 November 2016 that compassionate access to cannabis-based medicine should be prescribed by an Irish-registered doctor and recent comments by himself and the Taoiseach on 28 February 2017 and 1 March 2017 that this medicine now needs to be prescribed by a consultant neurologist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12070/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The granting of an individual licence under the Misuse of Drugs Act for the use of cannabis for medical purposes sets aside the usual regulatory processes which are in place to protect the public and which ensure that only those medications which have been found to be both effective and safe are made available to the public.

Applications for controlled drugs licences are considered on a case by case basis. The Chief Medical Officer has advised me that it is crucial that the granting of any such licence takes due care and consideration of the potential unintended consequences associated with the prescription of cannabis, a schedule 1 controlled drug, for medical purposes, and that its use is endorsed by a consultant who is familiar with and responsible for the care of the individual for whom the licence application is being made and who is prepared to monitor the effects of the treatment over time.