Cork mother pauses walk to Dáil after phone call from Health Minister

The mother of a seriously unwell child is 'hopeful' a meeting with Health Minister Simon Harris will provide some much-needed solutions for her daughter.

Vera Twomey yesterday set off in protest from her home in Blarney on a 250km journey to Dáil Éireann after her daughter, Ava, suffered a number of devastating seizures during the night.

Her daughter, six-year-old Ava Barry, was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome, a rare, drug-resistant epilepsy which causes her to have hundreds of seizures daily. Vera had been petitioning the Government to grant permission for her daughter to use medicinal marijuana.