Yesterday, Noreen O'Neill returned from Barcelona having filled a prescription for medical cannabis for her son Michael but the medication was taken from her by customs officials in Dublin Airport. Unfortunately, Noreen is not the first and will not be the last parent to go through this. On a weekly basis, parents are travelling to other jurisdictions in order to access healthcare for their children. This situation is completely untenable and shambolic. Two years have passed but the Government has still not acted on the cannabis access programme recommended by the Health Products Regulatory Authority. The Government has failed to act on an issue affecting so many families who have to travel abroad to obtain health care for their children and who are breaking the law in doing so. It is totally unacceptable.

I acknowledge the work that Deputy Gino Kenny has done on this issue although he and I have had arguments and disagreements on it in this House. What those of us on this side of the House want is a system that is as seamless as possible and that allows parents to access appropriate health care treatment for their children. However, this must be done under the supervision of a medical professional to ensure that the drugs or treatments being used are appropriate and are supervised. That is why the access programme for medicinal cannabis products is based on a licensing system whereby a consultant requests that a drug be imported. No request from a consultant has been refused by the Minister to date, as far as I know. I contend that the way not to do this is to send people abroad, knowing that when they come home the drugs will be confiscated.

There are hundreds of families-----

Instead, we need to work to try to help families to get the medical treatments that they need.