To ask the Minister of Health when Risdiplam will be available to adults with Spinal Muscular Atrophy living in Northern Ireland, under the Early Access to Medicines Scheme.

Risdiplam is currently available through the UK wide Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS). The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust has an approved EAMS scheme in place for risdiplam, subject to inclusion criteria and governance arrangements, which have now been agreed. The Trust has assured me that clinically suitable adult patients will begin to receive treatment within the next number of weeks, with individual treatment pathways agreed by 9 March 2021 and a communication/engagement plan established thereafter, to ensure a smooth transition onto the risdiplam EAMS scheme as soon as possible.