Mr. Silvan Luley:

Before I answer the first question, I would very shortly pick up on some wording. Professor Boer said that killing is not an option. We must be clear that voluntary euthanasia is nothing to do with killing. For me as a lawyer, killing is the criminal act of a person ending the life of another person without that person wanting their life to be ended. We should be clear that voluntary euthanasia, which is legalised in the Netherlands but not legalised in Switzerland, is about a competent adult requesting earlier or at the actual time to have their suffering in life ended by a doctor for whatever personal reasons there may be. That is just for the record.

Regarding the first question about alternatives to assisted suicide, the answer is "Yes". Whatever the healthcare system in Ireland offers so people can enjoy a good quality of life is what we would recommend. Most people turning to us turn to us at a very late stage, after months or years of suffering, because otherwise they would not consider the option of assisted suicide or assisted dying. Most of these people are already in palliative care, which applies especially to terminal cancer patients and to neurological suffering. We always recommend, if that is not already evident, that they make use of it and talk to their doctors, talk to palliative care experts and have these discussions to install and plan a palliative care plan for the future if their suffering becomes worse.

Another very important element is the advance health care directive, which Professor Boer mentioned. Many people are afraid of dementia or are suffering already from an illness that might lead to dementia, or dementia itself, like Alzheimer's in the early stage. In these cases, the straightforward recommendation is always to do an advance health health care directive in which the person rules that they do not want to be kept alive, that they do not want to be on life support beyond the point of-----