Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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577. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the MCAP review; who is carrying out the review; if he will confirm whether patient advocacy groups are involved in the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11034/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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When the evidence based synthesis is completed by the Health Research Board, a clinical review group will evaluate the evidence to see if there evidence to support the addition of any other clinical indications to the MCAP programme.The review will be carried out solely by the Health Research Board and clinical review group.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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578. To ask the Minister for Health if he will address the issue of the MCAP restrictive access by broadening it to cover patients suffering from chronic pain; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11035/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The three stated conditions currently being treated under the MCAP were based on the recommendations of the 2017 HPRA publication "Cannabis for Medical Use- A Scientific Review" which found that if cannabis products that are not capable of being authorised as medicines are made available through an access programme, patients and healthcare professionals must recognise the limitations of the programme in assuring the safety, quality and effectiveness, as compared with what would be expected for an authorised medicine. The publication advised that a programme should recognise patient need, but be evidence based.

An evidence based synthesis and clinical review of the MCAP is being carried out by the Health Research Board for the Department of Health following which a clinical review group will complete an assessment to see if there is evidence to support the recommendation of the addition of any other clinical indications to the MCAP programme.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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579. To ask the Minister for Health what consideration he has given to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice recommendation to expand the MCAP to those for whom conventional pain management has proven ineffective; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11036/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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An evidence based synthesis and clinical review of the MCAP is being carried out by the Health Research Board for the Department of Health following which a clinical review group will complete an assessment to see if there is evidence to support the recommendation of the addition of any other clinical indications to the MCAP programme.As any recommendation(s) made by the clinical review group will be evidence-based they are the only recommendations that will be considered.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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580. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware that patients approved for medicinal cannabis through Ministerial licence are not eligible for any financial assistance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11037/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Irish-registered medical practitioners may apply to the Minister for Health for a licence to access cannabis for medical use for a named patient under their care. Applications for this Ministerial licence can only be accepted from:

- An individual patient’s medical consultant, where evidence of an established doctor-patient relationship exists, or

- From the individual patient’s GP where the application is also accompanied by a written endorsement for the cannabis treatment from the patient’s medical consultant.

The Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP) allows medical consultants to prescribe specified cannabis-based products for patients with certain medical conditions who have exhausted all other available medical treatment options. Those medical conditions are:

- Spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis

- Intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy

- Severe, refractory (treatment-resistant) epilepsy

Patients treated under Ministerial licence may have one of these conditions or they may have a different condition. The HSE will only reimburse eligible patients who access a cannabis product under the Ministerial licensing route if prescribed for one of the three medical conditions included in the MCAP.

People who cannot, without undue hardship, arrange for the provision of medical services for themselves and their dependants may be eligible for a medical card. In accordance with the provisions of the Health Act 1970 (as amended), eligibility for a medical card is determined by the HSE. Medical card eligibility is primarily based on an assessment of means and is not granted on the basis of any particular condition.

In certain circumstances the HSE may exercise discretion and grant a medical card, even though an applicant exceeds the income guidelines, where he or she faces difficult financial circumstances, such as extra costs arising from illness.