Professor William Binchy:

It is not conflating the issue; it is identifying exactly the implications of what the Deputy's proposal would involve. The Deputy’s proposal would involve someone coming to him and saying that they have a medical condition such that they want to die now. I understand the Deputy to say that in those circumstances, he would support legislation to say “Yes”. Let us say somebody else comes to the Deputy saying that they have situation that is causing them untold suffering that is not medical but interpersonal, financial or whatever. It may be simply philosophical in that they do not like life anymore. There are such people, tragically, who want to end their lives. The whole range of why people take their lives is wide-ranging. It covers cases, some of which are medical and some of which are not. The point I am trying to get to the Deputy that he is not accepting delivery of is they have a common denominator.