Dr. Tom Hickey:

Would an express right to die in the Constitution give more scope? I would say, yes, probably. I agree with what Dr. Casey said in his last contribution about what the divisional High Court said in the Fleming judgment, that, while there is no question about it that a Supreme Court judgment is binding and authoritative, the divisional High Court did have a surprising amount to say about the policy questions. Those questions are there, they are not insignificant, and they are the kinds of things the Oireachtas would be taking into consideration, I would have thought. If there were an express right to die inserted into the Constitution by way of referendum, that would change the dynamic for what could be done legislatively. Whether that is a good thing to do, I have to express a view on that. I think it would be ill advised.