Last night I spoke to Vera Twomey, a woman whose daughter, Ava, suffers from the extremely debilitating Dravet's syndrome. More than anyone in the country, Vera has brought to public notice the urgent need to provide access to medicinal cannabis for people with such conditions. Incredibly and despite the Taoiseach's promises to introduce a medicinal cannabis access programme, Vera still has to travel to Holland on a regular basis. When she went there recently, there was not a sufficient amount available to give her a three-month supply; therefore, she will have to return in three weeks' time with an ill daughter, her family and so on. She goes back and forward every few weeks because the Government has failed to put in place an access programme for medicinal cannabis to enable people like Vera and Ava to get it from their pharmacies. Is this promise ever going to be delivered on for the people who need to access it?

I understand the Netherlands permits the export of cannabis dried herb, but it does not permit the commercial export of oil-based cannabis formulations, which is why we cannot import them. Dutch law does not allow us to do so. However, departmental officials are continuing to work intensively to find a supply of appropriate quality assured cannabis products for Irish patients.

They have had extensive recent discussions with both our Danish and UK counterparts and are now in contact with a number of potential suppliers. The discussions may take some time to produce a result.