David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their expert opinion and evidence they are giving to the committee. It is important for us to clearly understand the rationale and the evidence which is being given. I will start with the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland. Some interesting statements were made, which I want to probe. I will start with the areas that I agree with, and with which I believe most of the committee members would agree.

In her opening statement, Dr. McHale noted that "an important minority of patients are not receiving the optimal level of specialist palliative care..." I think we would all agree with that. She also said that people do not always get the psychological supports that they need to help them die with dignity. We can agree with that. She stated that we need "to provide the appropriate evidence-based interventions ranging from approved pain control to family support." Again, I do not think anybody would disagree with that. She also said that "Where there is no access to the appropriate intervention, or there is a lack of evidence for these, then we must target our energies and resources in these areas." In relation to end-of-life and palliative care, I think we can all accept, as a starting point, that there is an awful lot more we can do. Reading directly from Dr. McHale's opening statement, she said that all of that should not enable "ending the lives of terminally ill people as a way to avoid these challenges..." Essentially, she is saying that if we were to propose legislation in this space, it should not be a substitute for the lack of supports in those areas. Would that be a fair assessment of what Dr. McHale is saying? I would like to get clarity on that.