Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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I had not planned to contribute but a couple of remarks have been made that have spurred me to do so. The witnesses will appreciate the committee has been in deliberations now for five months. To respond to some of the remarks that have been made, there is not a single member of this committee who is unaware of the consequences of a decision the committee may make should members choose to recommend a change in the law. Our jobs, as has been correctly pointed out a number of times, is to try to thread a needle and figure out what is in the best interests of the Irish people and whether it will be acceptable to the majority of Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas. There is also the question as to whether such a change will be acceptable to the general public. That is a matter that we have to consider because that is our job and our day-to-day political nose, if you will.

Members of the Oireachtas who have served for seven or eight years recognise that there are two things at play when it comes to these fundamental decisions. One is an acceptance that we make mistakes and, to be forthright, that we must have compassion for each and every person in the State. Sometimes, we as individuals may not be subject to the circumstances in which others live and we may not even understand those circumstances but, that being said, we must still have compassion. We have seen that in recent years. I am not drawing an analogy with the removal of the eighth amendment but there must be a recognition of the process that these Houses went through in order to achieve that. Ultimately, it was a decision of the people and they made that decision by a huge majority.

There are a couple of things. First, I thank Dr. Cranfield for her illustrative example. It was very helpful for a number of different reasons. There is also another side to that. There are individuals who might go through both processes because they are not mutually exclusive. If an individual is in receipt of palliative care and support, especially from medical professionals but most importantly from their families, they still might make a decision to not go through that very last stage in their regrettable passing. This might be where they lose their faculties and their control and, as has been mentioned by several members, they might become a burden, or perceive themselves to be a burden. They might be going through intolerable pain during that process. I am of the view that with the necessary safeguards, notwithstanding what has been said, it is possible to thread that needle. We just have to do so very carefully.

On Dr. Doré's point, I recognise we all make mistakes. I do not think there is a person in this room who has not made a mistake they regret, either personally or professionally. We learn and we evolve. I refer to Dr. Doré's point about capital punishment versus the compassionate approach and even the rehabilitative approach we have now with regard to our prisons. There are miscarriages of justice all of the time. Dr. Doré works in Northern Ireland and would be very much aware of the miscarriages of justice that have occurred, and of those yet to be even addressed. However, we are human and we make mistakes and we learn from those things.

With the necessary safeguards, we can draw a line and say, "No". We have spent weeks and weeks on this with regard to mental health. In my opinion, it is not a ground for access to assisted dying under any circumstances. Is this a choice a perfectly health individual can make? It absolutely is not in my opinion.

I will not name them, although their representatives have come before this committee, but I recognise there are many examples of individuals who have come to the attention of the public in this jurisdiction who wanted to avail of assisted suicide and who ultimately did in certain instances but in other instances were blocked. Their passing, and the circumstances of their passing, could have been different. We do not know the exact details, of course. Only their doctors and their families know that. I suspect there are people here who know exactly what we are talking about as I do.

Like everybody in this room, I have lost somebody who went through a horrific end to what was a fabulous life and we have recognise that. If the Chair will forgive me, I have made a series of statements without questions but I wanted to put them on the record.