Ms Sin?ad Gibney:

I thank the Senator. On value, which she mentioned first and on which I am sure Ms Woods will have more to say, one could look to compensation models to see how the valuing of life is done. The matter came up more recently during the Covid pandemic in respect of access to critical care. Various models for access to critical care were introduced. Again, this is an area of concern for older people and the disabled community because, in the models, questions are asked about how far from the end of life one might be, based on demographics, statistics and so on. There are value-for-life, VFL, models and these might be what members should consider. When I talk about compensation, I talk about compensation models in the US after the events of 11 September 2001, for example. I know this issue is debated in respect of such models. They may be of use to this committee, although I cannot be sure.

I appreciate the Senator's concerns about allowing somebody with a disability to base a decision on ending his or her life on having that disability alone. This raises the issue that having a disability is not the issue for many; it is the society they live in and how they cannot participate fully by virtue of how we have built it. It is really important to get into this frame of mind.

Let me quote a submission by our counterpart body in England, which gave evidence to a similar committee. Its wording was particularly helpful. It referred to coercion but basically couched everything in the one space of coercion:

It is also necessary to consider coercion beyond the risks posed by individuals. One of the most important protections against people feeling coerced into seeking an end to their life is to ensure social conditions, support, care and services are in place so that people with disabilities or serious or terminal illnesses do not feel that they are a burden to their loved ones or to society. This goes beyond adequate funding and access to health and social services, and must include active efforts to create a society where people are able to live life on equal terms, free from discrimination.

For me, that is a helpful way to extend the frame on coercion to what we as a society are doing by coercing people into having a life that is unpleasant because of the conditions in which they live and because they are not able to participate in society by virtue of their disability. That is why the safeguard is important.

I hear the very strong concerns of Senator Seery Kearney and Deputy Alan Farrell. I do believe safeguards can be put in place to deal with this effectively. Certainly in respect of the Private Members' Bill that has been put forward, we have proposed such safeguards, but we will continue to engage if various models are examined. It is possible to legislate for this.