Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask the Taoiseach about his insistence that we must legislate on foot of the Supreme Court judgment in the X case. The X case itself cannot lend to this proposed legislation a justification that makes head 4 legally justifiable, not to mention legally compelling. While head 4 is faithful to the details of the test laid down in the X case, it is not faithful to the later developments of that test in the Cosma case, for instance. On the Cosma case reading of the X case test, head 4 would fail to meet the necessary standards because it does not require evidence of a treatment plan or consideration of other means of avoiding the risk to life and because it does not take into account, as the Minister insisted we should, the public policy arguments that are relevant in addressing claims of suicidality.

Will the Taoiseach undertake to review the myth that we are legally compelled to legislate on foot of the X case? Will he acknowledge that legal precedents overtook the judgment in the X case many years ago? If not, will he admit that the Bill is being pushed through to satisfy a political requirement and not a constitutional one?

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