Gino with the parents of Ava Barry and Ronan Gaynor

Plea made to access medicinal cannabis on compassionate grounds

People Before Profit TD, Gino Kenny, author of the Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill 2016, has asked Health Minister, Simon Harris, to make a special exemption order in the case of Ava Barry (6) and Ronan Gaynor (4) in regards to access to medicinal cannabis.

Ava suffers from Dravet’s syndrome, which involves intractable epilepsy, with often dozens of seizures a day, a condition known to respond well to cannabis based products. Ronan has diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer, involving severe pain and distress which is responding to cannabis-based products only.

The exemption would allow the cannabis oil with the required THC content to be imported by the Minister to help alleviate the suffering of both children under a statutory instrument that could by-pass…