Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for being with us today. We, as a committee, have a tough task and we benefit from the expertise that is shared with us. It is especially helpful for us to learn from international experience. They say that hindsight is 20:20 vision and we get to benefit from our guests' hindsight as we decide whether to recommend legislation in this area.

I thank Dr. Crowe for her attendance. I respect that the Irish Medical Council does not have a position on this issue. A number of the organisations that have been before us have positions but I have struggled to understand whether that is reflective of the people they represent, if people are polled and how those positions are arrived at. I appreciate Dr. Crowe being here with a neutral perspective to share her expertise and, as she has described it, principle-based guidance from the sector.

I will pick up on something Dr. Chapman said earlier. She said New Zealand has focused more on safety than on quality. In response to the previous speaker, she gave us an indication of what she means by quality. She said there could be clinical leads, better governance and improved communication between second-opinion doctors and first-opinion doctors. That is all really good and practical stuff for us to hear.

At this committee, what comes up repeatedly is safety and safeguards and I would be interested to hear our guests' view from a safety perspective. New Zealand has concentrated on safety. Could we hear advice as to what safety aspects could perhaps be used in another country, if we were to go down this route, to make sure safeguards were thorough? That is a huge concern for people working in this area and for society.

I have two other questions. I will run through them and hand over to our guests to respond, if that is okay. Dr. Allcroft mentioned in his remarks that he has assisted 36 patients and I am curious to understand how many patients came to him for advice overall on this topic. Apologies if this was asked earlier as I missed the start of the meeting. I am trying to understand how many came seeking help and how many got help. Also, if it is possible, although I understand Dr. Allcroft might not have the facts and figures, he might provide a breakdown as to the percentages of the settings it happened in, whether it was at home, in a hospice or in a hospital.

Perhaps I could ask the following question of our international representatives here today. We have heard from the palliative sector in Ireland. We heard the really strong concerns they raised and I am curious to hear what the response of the palliative care sector in Australia and New Zealand was and what the lived experience is now in a post-legislation world.