Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses and Dr. Cranfield for taking us through Mary's story. That really does ground us a little in why we are here and what we are talking about. I thank all of the witnesses and their professions for everything they do day in, day out.

My first question is for Dr. McQuillan. A lot of what she spoke about is the trusted relationship. I would be interested to hear her view on how, if the Oireachtas decided to legislate for assisted dying, we could continue a trusted relationship.

I have a question for each of the witnesses, so I will ask them now and hand the floor over. Dr. Watson brought up Northern Ireland and it is something I had not concentrated much on. Before we legislated in Ireland for the likes of abortion, we saw a lot of people go abroad to avail of it. Currently, we know a lot of people go abroad to avail of assisted dying.

That is something I had not really considered myself. I would like more information on that. Regarding the different fears that people have and how understandable they are, we can all put ourselves in the situation of imagining ourselves facing the same thing. When decisions are driven by fear, quite often the end result is a decision to enjoy the here and now and live life for every moment. That is very difficult to do for a person experiencing intolerable pain and suffering and losing their autonomy. How do we navigate what is fear of intolerable pain and suffering, what is intolerable pain and suffering and how anybody can make that determination?

Dr. Doré has spoken about incorrect diagnosis. What safeguards does he suggest to prevent this from happening?