Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 November 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying

Protecting Vulnerable Individuals from Coercion: Discussion

Photo of David CullinaneDavid Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I accept that and thank Dr. McHale for clarifying that point. She has also referred to people who do not have access to what she calls "good quality palliative care, mental health, social work and disability services." Very often, that is the problem. I might just differentiate that from some individual cases. This is where I want to get clarity on the evidence that is being presented. Certainly, we have seen some very high-profile cases involving legal challenges and I have met some of the families involved over the course my time as an Oireachtas Member. It strikes me that they did have access to good quality palliative care, and they did have strong family support, clarity of mind and clarity of purpose. Does Dr. McHale accept that there are circumstances where that is the case?