Dr. Edward Mathews:

Regarding advanced nurse practitioners, there are jurisdictions where they have partial roles. Depending on the nature of the service that might be legislated for, advanced nurse practitioners could have different roles. In particular, where there are services, for example, that are provided predominantly by an advanced nurse practitioner and there is an interface between end-of-life care and any other decision that might be made in regard to assisted dying, noting the intersections and the potential benefit of their separation, it is very important to maintain that frame of mind around the role of advanced practitioners. In other jurisdictions, certainly, the increasing role of advanced nurse practitioners has become a huge issue in this area. If I am being absolutely honest, it is less so in Ireland because, in some cases, we are dealing with situations where the advanced practitioner is the only healthcare professional somebody might have access to in a very geographically remote area. We do not have the same context here.