Dr. Eve Griffin:

There are two parts to this. I will speak about the evidence from the data and Professor Arensman might talk a little more about the safeguards. One of the challenges is that research in looking at trends in rates is based on population-level data. When we look at trends in rates of suicide, we are looking at what is often a very complex issue and it is very difficult to tease out why rates may fluctuate. It might be as a result of economic changes or different kinds of cohort effects within the population. Based on the research that has been conducted, we do not have strong evidence on either side. We have not seen evidence to support that if assisted dying is introduced, it will lower rates of suicide. On the other hand, we have not seen a big increase in rates of suicide in any country as a direct result of assisted dying being implemented.

There are a couple of points to make in this regard. Much of the research in this area is very limited by the quality of the data. Often, deaths as a result of assisted dying or euthanasia are not reported. There may not be a requirement for mandatory reporting and, in addition, there is not an International Classification of Diseases, ICD, code internationally. We are often dealing with data of low quality and there are particular challenges in regard to suicide data. I do not think we will be saying there is evidence that provision for assisted dying contributes to a large change in rates of suicide. However, it is important that we identify potential impacts we would wish to examine if there is a change in legislation in this country, particularly in respect of what we know about the impact on vulnerable people within the population from exposure to the topic of suicide and narratives around suicide.