Ms Sharon Foley:

Some of those questions may have been addressed to me. To answer Senator MacSharry's question, the figure of €1.3 billion is an international estimate based on an assumption that approximately 10% of the national health care budget is spent on end-of-life care. That is being delivered not only by those providing specialist palliative care, which is for those with special and complex needs, but also by the public health nurse, the general practitioner or the general nurse working on the ward. We do not know where all of that funding is spent but we get a sense that much more thought and planning could be put into end-of-life care in all health care settings to ensure we can deliver better end-of-life care. That is from where we take our evidence.

With regard to euthanasia, we in the Irish Hospice Foundation operate to hospice principles, which is neither to hasten nor to postpone death. There is no doubt that there could be a debate on euthanasia but we would believe so much more needs to be done to deliver good palliative care services throughout the country. That is our position. We must get that right first before we move on to the next debate, and there is a good deal that needs to be done in that regard. I held up a national strategy to members. That was done in 2001. In 2009 a national implementation plan was developed by the Health Service Executive which identified its priorities. In a way that answers Senator van Turnhout's question as well. There are many commitments in place but we must see those move into action. Some updating and refreshing may need to be done in light of new findings, but we must move that into action.

On the Government commitment, there was some commitment in the 2013 service plan to open the beds in Marymount that were developed as part of the new build in Marymount and also to move towards planning in Waterford and Kerry, but we still do not have an opening date for that. These issues need to move from the pre-planning and discussion stage to actual plans and development. It must be remembered also that each of those developments is hugely supported by volunteers who are out fundraising day after day to support them. Their patience will run out at some point if they are not seeing commitments made. Already, 44 beds that were built remain unopened, approximately 20 of them in the hospice in Blanchardstown. It is simply not good enough to have these facilities developed, supported by the volunteers in line with national policy, and then not delivered upon. Have I answered all my questions?