Ms Patricia Rickard-Clarke:

It is. That is why we hear of the taboo with regard to talking about and planning for death. In Canada, for example, when people get married, take out a mortgage and buy a house, they make their wills to provide for their children. They assign enduring power of attorney and their advance care directives. Those are in place and they continue to update them as their circumstances change; therefore, their wishes are being recorded all the time. Culturally, we are bad at planning for that, but the international research indicates that when planning takes place it is easier for people facing the end of life, and indeed family members.

Another issue is that people might say we do not have court cases on many of these issues. We do not because people who lack capacity do not have money. We do not have free legal aid for these issues, as we see in other jurisdictions where there is a lot of litigation. We must get that planning in place and have a framework.