The medical cannabis access programme was announced by the Minister for Health today. Obviously, it has been a protracted process, but it is welcome. It is significant for the health system as doctors can now prescribe cannabis-based products. I commend the families who have been campaigning for this in the past three years, in particular, Vera Twomey and Paul Barry. The country owes that family a debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they have made. While the programme is welcome, it does not go far enough, in particular with reference to the stipulation surrounding the omission of chronic pain. Many will ask why a reference to chronic pain has been omitted from the programme. Will it be included in the access programme in the future?

I am glad that at long last progress is being made on this matter. It is a pilot programme that will run for five years. I recognise the Deputy’s work in helping to bring us to this point, as well as the families mentioned by him. The medical cannabis access programme provides for medical cannabis to be prescribed in three circumstances where a patient has failed to respond to standard treatments. They include spasticity associated with MS, intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and severe refractory treatment resistant epilepsy. Any decision to extend its use to other illnesses or symptoms would have to be made on clinical grounds, rather than it being a political decision.