Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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938. To ask the Minister for Health the details of all those participating or involved in the cannabis working group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19612/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As the deputy will be aware, on foot of the conclusions from the Health Products Regulatory Authority’s report ‘Cannabis for Medical Use – A Scientific Review’, I established an Expert Reference Group to advise on the development of a Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP).

The purpose of the MCAP is to facilitate access to cannabis-based products or preparations that are of a standardised quality and which meet an acceptable level of quality assurance during the manufacturing process.

The Expert Reference Group was chaired by Dr Mairín Ryan, Director of Health Technology Assessment at the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), and comprised representation from the areas of oncology, palliative care, anaesthesiology, general practice, adult neurology, paediatric neurology, multiple sclerosis, psychiatry, pharmacy, patients, and ethics as well as representatives from HIQA, the HPRA, the National Medicines Information Centre and the Department of Health.

The Expert Group was tasked with the development of clinical guidance for healthcare professionals treating patients through the MCAP. The output of the work of this group resulted in the clinical guidelines for the Access Programme, which are available on the Department of Health’s website.

The membership of the group was as follows:

Health Information and Quality Authority

Dr Mairín Ryan (Chairperson)

Dr Patricia Harrington

Royal College of Physicians of Ireland

Dr Seamus O’Reilly - Medical Oncologist

Prof Tony O’Brien – Consultant physician in palliative medicine

Dr Peter Widdess-Walsh – Consultant Neurologist

Dr Chris McGuigan - Consultant Neurologist

Dr Bryan Lynch – Paediatric Neurologist

College of Psychiatrists

Dr Mike Scully - Consultant Psychiatrist

The College of Anaesthetists of Ireland

Dr Brendan Conroy - Pain Specialist & Anaesthetist

Irish College of General Practitioners

Dr Des Crowley - General Practitioner

Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland

Dr Cora Nestor

Community Pharmacy representative

Keith O'Hourihane - Pharmacist

Royal College of Surgeons Ireland

Professor David Smith - Ethicist

Patient representative

Joan Jordan - European Patients Academy on Therapeutic Innovation

Aileen Tierney

Health Products Regulatory Authority

Elaine Breslin

Vanessa Lyons

National Medicines Information Service

Claudine Hughes - Chief Pharmacist

Department of Health

Eugene Lennon - Principal Officer

Eamonn Quinn, Maria Egan - Pharmacists

Mary Dowling - Assistant Principal

Niamh O’Rourke - National Clinical Effectiveness Committee