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

I thank Professor O'Neill for his excellent submission and his presentation which builds on what Dr. McQuillan outlined to the committee last week. He described very well the interdependence of the ethical framework and how it is important not to specifically and exclusively focus on one aspect to facilitate one argument and that we are all interdependent.

I was concerned last week in looking at the statistics from countries that had imported the concept of legally assisted suicide. In that regard, let us consider the example of people with psychiatric conditions. Does Professor O'Neill want to elaborate on his concerns about how other countries have broadened the reach to encompass individuals other than very vulnerable and end-of-life cases?