Ms Rachel Woods:

Safeguards are a key consideration if the Oireachtas chooses to change the law in this area. When we are talking about safeguards, it is hard to talk about them in the absence of any framework for permitting assisted dying in the first place. The approach taken there will determine the kind of safeguards that are required. One would have to be looking at ensuring it is the actual choice of the person at the centre of it, ensuring that cannot be manipulated, pressured or forced in any way, and ensuring that there are criminal laws about acting outside that framework in any way. There are different models and safeguards in legislation in other countries. The committee will probably look much more closely at how well those work and at the experience of those jurisdictions. One would need to tailor a set of safeguards for the specific model and framework that one is considering. I believe that can be done in law but it is hard to assess the specifics of what the safeguards would be without a more concrete view of what framework, if any, is under consideration.