Mr. Peter Tyndall:

Some of the most touching cases involve people who did nothing wrong in a sense but where patients did not want families to know how ill they were. Families in such cases feel medical staff are keeping knowledge from them but, as the Deputy describes, the loved one has decided to do that. It is difficult because once a person is capable of making decisions, a doctor must respect it. That can make life very difficult.

Where a person is going home, there are issues about people preparing themselves to care for that loved one. The carer may not know the precise nature of the condition or the impact of medication, and these are difficult issues. Sometimes there is not a straightforward and right answer and the hope is people will feel a little more confident in allowing clinicians to share the requirements with family and some of the conversation around these issues. I again commend the Irish Hospice Foundation on the work it did with RTE on developing the programme. Perhaps we need to get better at speaking about these issues. I hope the contribution of our office will help the debate move forward and make people feel more comfortable. When there are happy family events on the horizon, one can understand people choosing to minimise the fact that their life is limited because of a fear of detracting from the happiness of family events. That is very understandable.