Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank all our witnesses for being with us here today and for sharing their personal testimonies and experiences and putting them on the public record. Mr. Ahern summed up what we as a committee have ahead of us. It is a big task in quite a tight timeframe. We rely on the expertise of people who work in this industry and people who have been through this journey.

Donal sounds like a remarkable young man. He really does. It sounds like he changed and saved lives, no more so than in his own dying days. I am sure Ms Walsh is proud of him and of the legacy that he has left behind in terms of recovery, hope and compassion. He sounds like someone who lived life to the full and I suspect that if assisted suicide was available, he probably would be somebody who would never have chosen to opt for it. That is what we are talking about here today. We are talking about choice, and especially choice for people who at the end of their lives are in intolerable pain and suffering.

I thank Mr. Wall for being here today. His testimony is very much a tribute to Vicky Phelan, who is a household name at this stage. She inspired many people through her strength, determination and advocacy, from everything like her online page, Vicky's Tribe, to her book and all of her interviews. She made a huge difference to people's lives and the very existence of this committee is testament to her and her advocacy. It was the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 that eventually made this committee happen, and it was ten years too late. This committee happened ten years too late. I was a teenager when Marie Fleming took her High Court challenge and I remember it vividly. I can remember the news coverage and the discussions that it sparked around kitchen tables and in classrooms around the country. I can remember her heartfelt plea and Mr. Curran's steadfast support for her. He was always by her side and doing interviews. I thank him for being here with us ten years later because I am sure that has been a long and frustrating ten years when he saw the High Court effectively ask for the Oireachtas to look at that. Two whole cycles of Oireachtas people have looked at it since. I hope this committee does Marie justice.

I was very struck by what Mr. Ahern said about his wife Vicky being unable to manage her pain any longer. That is what we are looking at here, whether we can legislate for people who are in constant, intolerable pain. The really difficult thing is that if we do legislate for it, how do we provide the safeguards to make sure that, as Ms Walsh has said, it is not abused or misused or that anyone is in any way feeling societal pressure towards making this decision. I do not believe anybody in this entire country or in this Oireachtas wants that to happen, no matter what their views are on it.

I was struck by what Mr. Ahern described as the trauma of loneliness, isolation and lack of support. That is a grounding factor for us in this committee.

I will pick out a line from Mr. Wall's testimony. He says what he would like to see is "what may be deemed acceptable to the Irish public and subsequently achieved through a rigorous legislative process, after which it can be implemented via an equally exhaustive administrative process". It is a mouthful but it captures what I would like to see us get to as a committee if at all possible. My question for Mr. Curran is, does the Swiss system meet that?