Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I welcome everybody to this first meeting of the Joint Committee on Assisted Dying. It is a very important and profound debate that is worth having in a public forum. We are finally having it after a number of years. The benchmark for me was ten years ago, when Marie Fleming brought a case against the State in relation to her own situation. We should always be cognisant of those who followed Marie Fleming in wanting to avail of assisted dying.

I understand there are differing opinions on this. We all come from a place where we have experienced loved ones who are in difficult situations when they come to the end of their life. Hopefully, this debate in this public forum will be respectful of everybody's differing opinions on this issue. I look forward to engaging with everybody in that kind of sphere.

I have a number of questions. At the moment, if somebody accompanies somebody to Switzerland and that person goes to Dignitas to end their life, will the person who accompanies that other person be breaking the law? Can they be prosecuted for accompanying them to Switzerland?

My second question is about the 2013 Supreme Court ruling, which was unequivocal, that legislators such as us can legislate for assisted dying, while obviously putting safeguards in place. I think it is possible. It will take guts and political will to move this forward. The public is ahead of politicians on this issue by a million miles. All indications state that the public wants legislative change on this issue.

In a hypothetical situation where somebody else may bring a legal challenge against the State, could that alter the judgment on the legal aspect of assisted dying in Ireland? I refer particularly to the Criminal Law (Suicide) Act 1993.