Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness:

And Senators.

As regards the question of the Oireachtas having acted unconstitutionally in the past, I do not think that can be said. It has acted neglectfully in not bringing in legislation but that was not unconstitutional. It is free not to legislate. The situation changed, however, after the A, B and C v. Ireland case and because the present Government decided it was time to bite the bullet.

Was X in accordance with the intent of the legislation? That does not arise because there was no legislation at the time. The Supreme Court was only looking the Constitution, not the legislation and therefore could not refer to it.

We should improve the pathways to treatment and the fact many of the people who will be involved in these procedures, apart from the emergency situation, but particularly under head 4, are those who have little money and cannot avail of the services offered abroad. They are often, as shown in Dr. McCarthy's evidence, involved in the drugs scene, young and unmarried. Those people might not have a GP.

On the other hand, it is made clear in the report on suicide published in recent days that 60% of the people who committed suicide were already being treated by the health system. As to the arguments about treatments and so on, treatment may or not work. That is probably as much as I can deal with at the moment.