Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
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Returning to societal change, I am still wondering did that change happen. Once we had progress in treatment and the identification of illness and we reached that stage, people live longer with illnesses that 30, 40 or 50 years ago might not have even been detected and someone would be at an advanced stage and close to death by the time it was identified. In that context, this may be symptomatic of a change that already happened and we are catching up. How many times have we been at funerals where someone says about someone whom he or she adored and about whose death he or she is heartbroken that the person's death was a relief? That is the context in which we are carrying this out and trying to find the pivotal point. Rather than us setting the point to bring about assisted dying, maybe the point has been set already and we are trying to set the safeguards because this is a natural progression when we are living in a time where there is a very different medical context. I wonder about the idea that somebody has the script and has the right to end their life if they wish because they have been given it, and that they do not exercise that right. Is that giving someone control in an otherwise very powerless situation? Therefore, the comfort of having control is something. We need to be careful about deductions from what that means, whether it is a change of heart or an empowering experience. I would value the witnesses' comments on that.