Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Are our witnesses of the view that assisted dying or assisted suicide is happening, albeit in a tiny minority of cases? In our previous session, it was stated that the Director of Public Prosecutions brought one case relating to assisted suicide. Ultimately, that case failed. Could it be happening covertly? The witnesses made the case regarding our ability to make the change. While people sympathised deeply with Marie Fleming and the circumstances in which she found herself, it was felt that the change could not be made because no person is an island and to help one person would have had a knock-on effect, which could be a cultural change going forward. That is just one thought I have been having over the course of this debate.

Dr. Mulligan's area of speciality is medical law. I heard different contributions to this debate. Senator Ruane, for example, mentioned advance directives and how the latter may change later in someone's journey towards its natural conclusion, which is death - the one thing we are all assured of. A position held today might be different tomorrow. I refer to people who contemplate suicide and who get medical, psychological and mental health treatment. Someone who is in a bad state today could be in a different space tomorrow or in a month's time. I mention how someone feels today, how they may feel later on and how that feeling may change. I want to ask Dr. Mulligan about her professional opinion and not her personal opinion on the ethical and moral values of what we are discussing. Can we be confident that rules, legislation and regulations can be so robust as to protect us from failing somebody in an assisted suicide that may once have been wished for but at the time is no longer wished for?