Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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254. To ask the Minister for Health further to parliamentary question number 55 of 1 February 2017, if his Department has invoked the urgency procedure to shorten the notification period in relation to regulations of the misuse of drugs legislation (details supplied). [21045/17]

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under the Technical Standards and Regulations Directive 2015/1535/EU, Member States are required to inform the European Commission of any new regulations or standards which may create a barrier to the free movement of goods. The new Misuse of Drug legislation has the potential to affect trade, in particular because of the introduction of a requirement for import licences for certain controlled drugs, and therefore was notified to the EU whilst in draft form and before it was adopted under national law.

Notified regulations are usually subject to a three month standstill period to enable the Commission and other Member States to examine the notified text and to respond appropriately. As the regulations related to the protection of public health or safety, the Department invoked an urgency procedure which shortened this notification period to ten days. The Commission did not raise any objections and this process has now been completed.

The Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2016 will be commenced on 4 May 2017, together with the Misuse of Drugs Regulations and the associated Orders.