Professor Richard Huxtable:

Yes, I will, briefly. I thank the Cathaoirleach. There may be one other case to consider in this regard as well. I confess I do not have the data or reference to hand, but I recall reading somewhere instances, thankfully very rare, in which there was a failure, to use the rather clunky language of the paper concerned, to complete the assisted dying or assisted suicide. These were cases where, for example, the medication had been taken but had not, or not quickly, resulted in the end of the person's life. There is then the lingering question of what the observing party, such as the doctor, should do, if anything, if he or she is constrained by an assisted suicide-only law. This would mean they could not do anything that could potentially result in the patient having a fairly poor, to put it mildly, dying process. I will happily try to find this reference for the committee, if this would be helpful.