Dr. Eve Griffin:

It can differ but what we have included in our discussion paper is a comparison of the profiles of the cohort of people who die by suicide and those who die by assisted dying based on international data. We see that, in Ireland, more men than women die by suicide. Women account for approximately one fifth of all suicides. However, when you look at assisted dying, it is more in line with what would be seen at population level. Approximately half of those who die through assisted dying are women. There is that difference and, obviously, there is also a difference with regard to the average age with people dying through assisted dying being older. I believe the point Professor Doherty was making in the last session is that, with regard to that group of older women in particular, there are concerns that depression and suicidality are being underdiagnosed and that, as a result, there is insufficient treatment. Even though the rates of suicide and self-harm among older people in Ireland are low relative to the rest of the population, in the cohort of people who do present, we see that it is more difficult to detect suicidal intent, although the rate of such intent can be much higher. There are sometimes similarities with regard to some of the risk factors such as vulnerabilities, ongoing challenges with pain and things like social isolation and loneliness. What we have said is probably broadly in line. There are particular subgroups where there may be an overlap.