Annie Hoey (Labour)
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I thank the witnesses for their contributions. I have two simple questions. First, are there any other examples of the Supreme Court noting that there is no right to something unless the Oireachtas legislates for it and then the Oireachtas subsequently legislating for it? Is this the first example of us doing that? I should possibly have sent on the question beforehand so the witnesses could dig through the Supreme Court judgments. I am interested to know if this is the first time we have done something based on a recommendation from the Supreme Court. Has this happened before?

Second, with regard to the phrase "vindicate the life" of every person, there is a positive obligation on the State to protect life. We have touched on the concept of active versus passive actions. This point is hypothetical. In other areas of legislation or things that we do in the Oireachtas, are we, hypothetically, in breach of that part of the Constitution? We make decisions that leave people in poverty, which results in them dying earlier than other members of the population. We make decisions on lots of different things that result, I would say, in people's lives perhaps not being fully vindicated. This is a hypothetical question, and it might tie into the question of active versus passive. Do we make decisions in the Oireachtas that would technically be in breach of that line in the Constitution or am I just going into a kind of moral hypothetical space?