Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank both witnesses. I will come back to Dr. Campbell on her intervention regarding her visit to the Netherlands in 2018. She met two people, one of whom had been an advocate - she stressed the words "had been" - and one of whom is a current advocate. Did the person who was originally an advocate change their thought process regarding the legalisation of assisted dying? Was there a reason or rationale for the change in that thought process? She can correct me if I am wrong but she seemed to suggest that when assisted dying was introduced, it was introduced as an intervention of last resort but how it is viewed culturally and societally now has changed significantly compared with when the original change was made.

Even if we were to make any legislative change, and what we are debating today possibly gets to the very heart of the issue, it is all very well for somebody who has the capacity because it is fairly black and white. For somebody who does not have the capacity, however, it raises a pile of questions as regards knowing that the will of said person is actually being fulfilled. Again, she can correct me if I am wrong, but Dr. Campbell seemed to suggest in reply to Deputy Daly that there was anecdotal evidence - she might even have cited a medical journal article - of the lack of due diligence in certain instances as regards capacity. That issue would certainly be a worry.

The other issue we are discussing is that of undue influence. Many people look to the potential of family members to put undue influence on somebody for a variety of reasons, primarily succession rights or financial reasons. I was struck by what was said about the wider undue influences, or the situational factors, including people in a certain socioeconomic setting, such as poverty, and maybe even geographical reasons. I am currently working with a family who are going through an end-of-life situation and are looking for palliative care. The person concerned is not in my constituency but their family members are. I am struck by the difference in the palliative care offering in one region compared with the other.

I am interested in the witnesses' views on a substandard - perhaps that is the wrong word - care plan or perhaps lack of a comprehensive care plan having an undue influence.

The ward of court system has been replaced under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. Did either of the witnesses see the "Prime Time Investigates" programme that was broadcast a few months ago, in which some families raised serious concerns about the ward of court process and vehemently opposed that process being imposed on their family members? They did not get it right in certain instances. There are reasons for that. How can we be sure that the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act will protect people who need to be protected. I am thinking in particular of people who have mental health issues. As we know, people's mental health can involve a transient state of mind in certain instances. Are there any specific provisions in the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act to protect people with mental health difficulties?