Dr. Eric Kelleher:

I can answer that question. I thank the Deputy. Our position initially came out of a submission to the Joint Committee on Justice on the Dying with Dignity Bill. That was what prompted an initial submission. It was drafted by members of the council, was approved and sent as a submission. That prompted us, as a college, to reflect on whether or not we would take a position on the issue. The college council then tasked our human rights and ethics committee to consider a college paper in this regard. A working group was established and views were gathered from two different forums. We gathered the views of the faculties within the college which represent elected members who reached out to other faculties and general adult psychiatry, liaison psychiatry and the psychiatry of old age. Views were gathered from the faculties and from the membership. The then president of the college, Dr. William Flannery, emailed the membership of the college to gather their views. All the information from members was fed back to Dr. Flannery, who anonymised it and sent in on to the human rights and ethics group committee to formulate the response. A draft position paper-----