🇮🇪 Medical cannabis in Ireland

C — product-, indication- and specialist-gated. The Misuse of Drugs (Prescription and Control of Supply of Cannabis for Medical Use) Regulations 2019 (S.I. No. 262/2019) let a medical consultant prescribe products listed in Schedule 1 for conditions in Schedule 2, with the patient registered by the HSE. Outside those limits the only route is a named-patient licence issued by the Minister for Health under section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 (model D).

S.I. 262/2019 (signed 26 June 2019, framed as a five-year pilot on gov.ie; the regulations themselves contain no expiry clause) restricts prescribing to a 'medical consultant' registered in the Specialist Division of the medical register with expertise in the condition; the patient must be on the Cannabis for Medical Use Register (CMUR) and the prescription must carry the CMUR number. The HPRA (Health Products Regulatory Authority) processes company applications to add products to Schedule 1 on behalf of the Minister. The gov.ie page, which is the Department of Health's official MCAP page, currently states 'The MCAP register is not currently operational' — see notes; it is unclear whether this line is stale or reflects a 2026 status.

Source: Misuse of Drugs (Prescription and Control of Supply of Cannabis for Medical Use) Regulations 2019, S.I. No. 262/2019 — Irish Statute Book · read 27 September 2026

Under MCAP only the products accepted into Schedule 1 can be prescribed: six are listed by the Department of Health — oral oils, softgels and two dried-flower products (Bedrocan and Bedrobinol). Authorised cannabinoid medicines (e.g. Sativex, Epidyolex) are separate, ordinary prescription medicines.

The Department of Health's MCAP page lists: Aurora High CBD Oil Drops (oral solution, THC <3% w/v, CBD 60% w/v, Aurora Cannabis, Canada), CannEpil, Tilray Oral Solution THC10:CBD10, Aurora Sedamen Softgels, Oleo Bedrobinol and Oleo Bedrocan (the last two are dried flower products), each with manufacturer and THC/CBD content in the table. The HPRA page explains that 'A company can apply to the HPRA to have their product added to Schedule 1 of the Regulations' and points to the Department of Health list. Products not on the list can only be obtained under a Ministerial licence.

Source: gov.ie — Department of Health: Medical Cannabis Access Programme (official MCAP page with accepted products table) · read 27 September 2026

Only a medical consultant (specialist-registered, with expertise in the condition) may prescribe under MCAP; the same consultant keeps the treatment under supervision. GPs cannot initiate.

S.I. 262/2019: prescriptions may be issued only by a 'medical consultant' registered on the Specialist Division of the Medical Council register, for a patient the consultant has entered on the CMUR after notifying the HSE; 'treatment with the specified controlled drug remains under the supervision of that practitioner'. The three qualifying conditions (Schedule 2): 'Spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis resistant to all standard therapies', 'Intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy' despite standard anti-emetics, and 'Severe, refractory epilepsy that has failed to respond to standard anticonvulsant medications'.

Source: Misuse of Drugs (Prescription and Control of Supply of Cannabis for Medical Use) Regulations 2019, S.I. No. 262/2019 · read 27 September 2026

A controlled-drug prescription carrying the patient's CMUR number, written by the consultant; as a Schedule 2-type controlled drug prescription it must be dispensed within 14 days and state the total quantity in words and figures.

S.I. 262/2019 requires the CMUR number and the consultant's supervision. The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 173/2017) require controlled-drug prescriptions to be dispensed not 'later than 14 days after the date of the prescription' (reg. 16(1)(e)), to state total quantity in words and figures (reg. 15(2)(g)) and to give a prescriber address 'within the State' (reg. 16(1)(b)). No dedicated e-prescription channel for cannabis products is described on official pages.

Source: Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017, S.I. No. 173/2017 — Irish Statute Book · read 27 September 2026

Not published. No official Irish text addresses whether an MCAP consultant may start or renew treatment by video consultation; the legal requirements are the consultant's specialist registration, the CMUR registration and a valid controlled-drug prescription, not the consultation format.

S.I. 262/2019 and S.I. 173/2017 set prescriber, register and prescription-form requirements and are silent on consultation mode. No HSE or Medical Council page specific to cannabis telemedicine was found among official pages opened in this session. A foreign online prescription cannot be used (see foreigners).

Source: Misuse of Drugs (Prescription and Control of Supply of Cannabis for Medical Use) Regulations 2019, S.I. No. 262/2019 · read 27 September 2026

Only a pharmacist in a retail pharmacy business may supply, against a valid consultant prescription for a registered patient; there is no separate list of 'cannabis pharmacies'.

S.I. 262/2019 restricts supply to pharmacists or retail pharmacy businesses, made by or under the supervision of a pharmacist, on a valid prescription only. Whether home delivery by the pharmacy is permitted (a 2021 amendment, S.I. 557/2021, is linked from the gov.ie page) could not be verified because the Irish Statute Book returned 403 for that instrument in this session.

Source: Misuse of Drugs (Prescription and Control of Supply of Cannabis for Medical Use) Regulations 2019, S.I. No. 262/2019 · read 27 September 2026

Not verified from an official page in this session. The Department of Health MCAP page and the 2019 Regulations say nothing about who pays; HSE reimbursement pages for MCAP could not be opened.

The gov.ie MCAP page contains no statement on HSE funding, the Drugs Payment Scheme or medical-card cover, and several HSE URLs returned 404/403. The Regulations (S.I. 262/2019) regulate prescribing and supply only. Treat reimbursement as unconfirmed until an HSE PCRS page can be cited.

Source: gov.ie — Department of Health: Medical Cannabis Access Programme · read 27 September 2026

No public price. Neither the Department of Health nor the HPRA publishes prices for the MCAP products or for products imported under Ministerial licence.

The accepted-products table on gov.ie lists names, forms and THC/CBD content but no prices; the HPRA MCAP page covers only the application process for companies. No official price bulletin exists for these unauthorised products.

Source: HPRA — Medical cannabis access programme (regulator page) · read 27 September 2026

Ireland has a per se limit of 1 ng/ml THC in blood (measured within 3 hours of driving), but a patient lawfully prescribed THC who carries a 'medical exemption certificate' signed by the prescribing doctor is exempt from that per se offence. Impaired driving remains an offence regardless.

Road Traffic Act 2016, section 8, inserted section 4(1A) into the Road Traffic Act 2010: it is an offence to drive with a specified drug at or above the Schedule concentration — Δ9-THC 1 ng/ml blood, cocaine/benzoylecgonine 10 ng/ml, 6-acetylmorphine 5 ng/ml. Section 4(1B): the per se offence 'does not apply' to cannabis (reference numbers 1 and 2) where the driver holds a 'medical exemption certificate' in the prescribed form indicating THC 'had been lawfully prescribed for him or her and which is signed by the doctor who prescribed it'. Section 4(1C) makes knowingly signing a false certificate an offence (class C fine). The certificate only removes the per se offence; the general impairment offence in section 4(1) still applies.

Source: Road Traffic Act 2016 (No. 21 of 2016), section 8 — Irish Statute Book · read 27 September 2026

Ireland is outside Schengen, so the Article 75 certificate does not apply. The official Irish rule for travellers carrying prescribed cannabis products into or out of the country (licence, quantity, days) could not be located on an HPRA, Department of Health or Revenue page in this session.

The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017 (S.I. 173/2017), as read, contain no traveller-specific personal-import exemption; the HPRA controlled-drugs pages cover operator import/export licences and LONOs only, and the Revenue customs pages tried returned 404. Cannabis products for MCAP or Ministerial-licence patients are imported by licensed operators under HPRA import licences. Until an official traveller page is found, a patient should assume a licence question arises and contact the Department of Health's controlled drugs unit before travelling.

Source: HPRA — Guide to import and export licences and LONOs for controlled drugs (including the import of cannabis products), listed on HPRA guidance page · read 27 September 2026

Nothing bars a non-resident from being seen by an Irish consultant, but MCAP requires HSE registration and one of three conditions; a cannabis prescription issued abroad — on paper or by video — cannot be dispensed in an Irish pharmacy because controlled-drug prescriptions must come from a prescriber with an address in the State; rules for bringing your own supply in are not published on any page opened.

(1) Non-resident prescription: S.I. 262/2019 has no residency test, but the consultant must enter the patient on the HSE-run CMUR and the indication must be one of the three listed; not published whether the HSE registers non-residents. (2) Foreign EU prescription: the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017 require the prescriber's address to be 'within the State' (reg. 16(1)(b)) and Irish registration numbers, so a controlled-drug prescription from another EU/EEA state is not dispensable; the Irish instrument transposing Directive 2011/24/EU Art. 11 for ordinary medicines was not identified in this session (the European Union (Application of Patients' Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare) Regulations 2014, S.I. 203/2014, opened, does not deal with prescription recognition) — Art. 11(6) exclusion therefore rests on the 2017 Regulations' wording. (3) Bringing medicine in: Ireland is outside Schengen; national traveller rule not published on pages opened (see travel). (4) Foreign telemedicine prescription: not fillable, for the reason in (2).

Source: Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017, S.I. No. 173/2017, reg. 15–16 (prescription requirements) · read 27 September 2026

No pending change is announced on the Department of Health or HPRA MCAP pages; the programme was framed as a five-year pilot from June 2019, and neither page states what happened at the five-year mark or whether a review is under way.

gov.ie: legislation 'signed on 26th June 2019' on 'a pilot basis for five years'. The Regulations themselves have no sunset clause. The HPRA legislation page lists amending instruments up to S.I. 200/2023 (Amendment No. 2) and none dated 2024–2026. The gov.ie page's line 'The MCAP register is not currently operational' is undated and could not be reconciled with other official sources in this session.

Source: HPRA — Legislation for controlled drugs (list of S.I.s incl. cannabis regulations and amendments) · read 27 September 2026

No official count of MCAP patients or Ministerial licences was found on a Department of Health, HSE or HPRA page in this session.

The HSE maintains the CMUR but does not publish figures on the pages that could be opened; parliamentary-question pages on oireachtas.ie returned 403. Any number would have to come from a Dáil written answer and is left unknown here.

Source: gov.ie — Department of Health: Medical Cannabis Access Programme · read 27 September 2026