Updated at 10pm
AFTER FOUR AND a half hours of meetings with Health Minister Simon Harris, Vera Twomey, her husband Paul, along with TD Gino Kenny are positive that a deal can be reached for Ava Barry in less than two weeks.
Speaking after the meeting, Kenny said that a number of options have been made available for the family. While he would not go into specific detail, it is understood that more clarification will now be given on what the medical consultants can do.
“It’s not a done deal by any means. But we’d be quite positive of an outcome now. A mother shouldn’t have to to walk for nine days to get medicine for her child. There’s going to be more clarity given to consultants and GPs over what can be done. We hope to have something solid in place within two weeks.”
Twomey was welcomed into Dáil Éireann as she finished her gruelling walk from Cork to Dublin.
She began the 260km trek from her home to Dublin last Monday as a protest against decisions to restrict her seven-year-old daughter, who has a rare form of epilepsy, from accessing cannabis-based medication.
And as she turned the corner onto Kildare Street, she was met by at least 100 supporters who joined her to protest against current cannabis laws.
There were tense scenes as initially Vera was not being allowed into the Dáíl. However, after a few minutes she was able to make it through security and sat down on a bench. The mother was then met by TDs who helped her inside Government Buildings.
Upon arriving in Leinster House, Vera could barely make it down the corridors due to being stopped for handshakes.
AAA-PBP TD Gino Kenny accompanied Vera on her journey. She set out to walk the distance – but illness and injury have taken their toll in recent days and she’s been using a wheelchair since the weekend, due to a knee problem.
She’s also been suffering from tonsillitis since late last week.
A crowd of supporters has gathered on Kildare Street to welcome the campaigning mother.
Last night, Health Minister Simon Harris said he would meet her when she arrived. A statement from the Minister said the HSE had advised him that her consultant would be in touch to arrange a further consultation for her daughter.
Harris said it is not within his power “to provide medicinal cannabis tomorrow”. He said he remains fully committed to “establishing an access programme for cannabis-based treatments in Ireland”.
With reporting by Garreth MacNamee
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say