Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank our witnesses for being here with us and for all of the care and support they provide to people. Palliative care is one of the most important services provided in Ireland. It supports not only the person at the heart of the care but also their entire families during an extremely difficult time. I have taken on board the message that further investment and further support are needed. That has been a huge focus of this committee. As a Government TD, I will campaign for the publication of the new national adult palliative care policy to back that up. I will give that commitment.

Dr. Linane spoke about how palliative care is about supporting people at the most vulnerable time of their lives. That sums it up. The theme of today's meeting is protecting vulnerable individuals from coercion, in the context of safeguards in the event that the committee recommends to legislate in this area. It is our third meeting on this theme. I am starting to get a bit anxious because I feel we have not heard much in the expert testimonies about how, if we are to legislate in this area, how we should shape those safeguards. It is really about making sure we are protecting the most vulnerable. The witnesses are all experts at protecting both vulnerable people and people who are not vulnerable but who are coming to them at the most vulnerable time of their lives.

I would like to use my time to focus on this issue. If this committee were to legislate in this area, the most important aspect of that legislation should be around safeguards. The most practical way in which people could contribute to that would be by having on the record their views around what those safeguards should be and what they would look like if they were in place. That is what I would like to use my five minutes to get to the bottom of. I will ask all of our organisations those questions.