Dr. Tom Hickey:

Nobody would ever want to do this, but if the Oireachtas were to come up with a legislative scheme that ignored these concerns and did not conscientiously consider the importance of life, morally or constitutionally, and were to come up with some loose, poorly thought through and unregulated scheme that left vulnerable people, including those without medical insurance and whoever else it might be, choosing to die when they do not want to do so, we would be into constitutionally dubious territory. This is not a free-for-all, and I am not saying that. There are options. Do Oireachtas Members want to stick with what it has? Do they want to loosen it conscientiously and thoughtfully based on the evidence they hear and their own sense of the people's views? They are entitled to do that, constitutionally speaking.