Minister for Health announces the appointment of a Chair of the Review of Access to Cannabis for Medical Use
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From: Department of Health
- Published on: 1 April 2026
- Last updated on: 1 April 2026
The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD has announced that Professor Shane Allwright has been appointed Chair of the Review of Access to Cannabis for Medical Use.
The Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP) has been in operation since 2021 for Schedule 2 Cannabis products, alongside access to Schedule 1 cannabis products, granted under Ministerial Licence. The Minister for Health is now establishing this Review Group to examine current access to these medical cannabis products, and to provide considered advice and recommendations to inform future policy and decision-making.
Minister Carroll MacNeill said:
"I am pleased to appoint Professor Allwright as Chair of the Review Group. This is an incredibly important piece of work, and I would like to thank Professor Allwright for agreeing to take on this role. I am confident that Professor Allwright’s extensive experience will ensure that the work of the Group is thorough, balanced, and evidence based. Under her leadership, the Review Group will make a valuable contribution to our understanding of this issue and to the development of effective health policy.
“I look forward to receiving the Group’s report in due course and wish Professor Allwright every success in her appointment.”
Professor Shane Allwright said:
“This is an important and challenging review, on a topic of interest to many people, including patients and clinicians. It is a great honour to have been appointed by the Minister for Health to chair this working group. I look forward to bringing my national experience in public health policy to the role and to working with the Department of Health and with the subject experts appointed to the review group.”
Notes
Professor Shane Allwright - Biography
Epidemiologist Shane Allwright is retired from Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, where she was Professor in Epidemiology in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, and latterly, College Registrar. She is a Fellow emerita of Trinity College Dublin and an Honorary Fellow of both the Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and the UK Faculty of Public Health. Professor Allwright chaired the report (Report on the health effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the workplace) for the then Minister for Health and Children, Micheál Martin. This report was critical to the introduction of the Irish smokefree workplace legislation. She was the lead investigator in a study of the impact of the ‘smoking ban’ on the respiratory health of bar workers. She has served in various capacities on national and European public bodies, including the Board of the Office of Tobacco Control and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH Ireland, Council of the Irish Heart Foundation).
Her research interests include health effects of active and passive smoking and alcohol misuse; evaluation of tobacco and alcohol control policies; smoking cessation; and prisoner health. She has been a senior advisor to Healthy Trinity in creating and evaluating smoke- and vape- free campuses and is member of the advisory panel of the Commercial Determinants of Health Lab.
Purpose of the Review of Access to Cannabis for Medical Use
The Review will:
- Review the current operation of the Medical Cannabis Access Programme and the availability of Schedule 2 Cannabis products.
- Examine the appropriateness to expand the range of conditions covered by the programme, where sufficient evidence exists that cannabis may prove beneficial.
- Review the current access to Schedule 1 Cannabis products and the current operation of the ministerial licence.
- Develop a national policy on access to, and the administration of cannabis products that are subject to ministerial licence.
The proposed lifespan of the Review Group will be no longer than 12 months from the date of the first Group meeting.