Reverend Dr. David Bruce:

I do not know whether I can expand better. In my childhood in Northern Ireland - members will gather from my accent that I am from just outside Belfast - it used to be that the swings in the local park were chained up on a Sunday. That was something which caused me great grief, as members can probably imagine. There is an example of the apparent imposition of what might be perceived as the law of God, misinterpreted, in my view, but nonetheless perceived as that, and therefore being imposed legislatively by local government by chaining up the swings on a Sunday because it is the Lord's day, and those sort of things should not be done. Thankfully, we have moved on.

That was a misinterpretation of the nature of the relationship between church and state, and certainly between the Legislature and the people. The Parliament of which members are part, the Oireachtas and the Dáil, is not a church, and we should not be expected to treat it as a church. Members should not welcome it if we tried to do so. If I am referring back to de Valera's vision of Ireland, so be it. In my view as a Presbyterian, that was a flawed vision. The reformed position from a Presbyterian perspective would be that God reveals his will in a general sense to all people everywhere for the common good. We call it common grace. The seasons follow each other, the earth is fruitful and provides for us. These things are common to all people but then God reveals himself specifically to his people, to those who choose to follow him and provides them with a set of ethical principles to follow, again in his belief, in his expressed will, that those people would be agents of transformation and for the betterment of society as a whole. That is probably the way we see the church slotting into the wider society.

I found it fascinating to listen to the discussion this evening and recognise the inherent tensions in what we are saying here. Most of us have been invited as religious representatives and have spoken from a perspective of being, as it were, "in the house looking outwards". I hope what we have said is more than just doctrinal principles, that it applies to all people everywhere and carries the tone and the tenor of common grace for the common good. That is certainly the spirit in which I would offer my comments and concerns about any change to the law in relation to assisted dying. I said earlier that it is the mark of a mature and caring society that we care for the vulnerable, that we treat each other equally and that we ensure that those who are on the fringes and at deep points of vulnerability are protected. It is incumbent on us, as legislators and as a state, to ensure that this is put in place.