Written answers
Wednesday, 8 May 2019
Department of Health
Cannabis for Medicinal Use
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
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