Annie Hoey (Labour)
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Professor Huxtable might be able to answer this question. I am still trying to get my head around the concept of morality and right and wrong in different countries. Unfortunately, it feels rather pressing on this particular issue that we somehow get this right. I do not know how we come about that. In some countries this has been deemed permissible and then in other countries it has been deemed impermissible and there is a whole moral element to this.

How did how do we find a way forward to square the circle? Obviously, we have to look at the context that exists in Ireland but Ireland also exists in a global context. We do not exist in a silo. We can do things in other countries, even though they may not be legally permissible here. We are not prevented from doing those things. That could be travelling to Switzerland to avail of something or it could be going to Amsterdam for a weekend. What we get held accountable for here is not always the same elsewhere. Is there a way forward for us to square that moral circle? How does one manage that examination of morality in the legal context? Medical morality and medical ethics, probably very aligned to the law, is a separate thing in and of itself. Can Professor Huxtable suggest a way forward? How do we weigh up those two things in terms of the international context, while looking at the Irish context? Is there a guidance piece he could give us as to how we individually or as a committee balance that?