The HHS has released documents confirming its recommendation that cannabis be rescheduled as a lower risk drug.
Medical cannabis associations have called for the approval requirement to be scrapped for all conditions.
Newly-appointed Minister of Health, Mónica García Gómez, has committed to rebooting plans to regulate medical cannabis.
The country's first harm-reduction training sessions took place in November.
Opponents of the bill have been accused of delaying the final vote.
More than one person dies every day from drugs in Ireland, members of the Citizens’ Assembly have heard.
MPs across Australia have launched a coordinated push to legalise the personal use of cannabis.