Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. I know Dr. McQuillan from north Dublin and the great work she and the organisation do in palliative care medicine. I acknowledge that before I ask questions.

What struck me about some of the evidence and research I am aware of is the regimes that exist elsewhere. The Netherlands has been mentioned. I was quite shocked by the rocketing rise in the number of cases and the expansion of that regime. In a particular year, 141 people with dementia were involved in the regime, 16 for psychiatric reasons and 244 because of advanced age. In Belgium, it has been extended to children. In Oregon, it has moved towards psychological considerations over medical ones. I want to ask Mr. Michael Nugent and Mr. Tom Curran about the expansion of such regimes and the issue of it going from being not a choice but a duty to die. Is there evidence that such regimes show the same caution as the Irish court system and palliative care organisations do? Is there evidence that vulnerable people in other countries have died as a result of the regimes that exist in those countries? What regime do the witnesses advocate for in an Irish context considering the regimes that exist elsewhere in which there has been quite extensive expansion? Mr. Curran mentioned he does not advocate the same system as the Netherlands. If he was to propose a model, what would it be considering the expansive regimes in other countries?