Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to develop a few things that arose from my previous questions. In Dr. Mewett's article, which I referred to, he mentioned a friend who had the option of going to the local palliative care unit for palliative sedation, but he wanted to die at home. Some people might be worried about the knock-on effects of changing the law even to a limited degree but recognise that many of the issues around end of life relate to a fear of suffering. Palliative care specialists will talk about the reassurance they can bring to that situation. There can be levels of suicidality, for example in the early stages of a cancer diagnosis, which can dissipate or diminish over time. Could people be made more aware of palliative sedation, which can be and should be available at home? I know it does not address the autonomy, the absolute choice argument, but at least it addresses the fear some people have of suffering going beyond control and so on. Has Dr. Mewett any comment on that? I was struck by the article which suggested it was not available to his friend at home.