Results 761-780 of 7,581 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I am finished with that line of questioning, but I thank the Chair. We are hearing that people may sometimes lack the autonomy or conditions necessary for autonomy. The availability of an assisted suicide option may draw those with mental health issues or depression towards decisions that are traumatising for their loved ones. I direct this to the palliative care experts among us. Is it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: Is that the case even if there is a law intended to be more specific and narrow, with assisted suicide rather than direct euthanasia requiring some diagnosis of a terminal illness and a certain prognosis of life?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I will turn to Dr. Linane for a moment. Many people will be surprised to hear it being clearly said that there is no evidence that appropriate and careful use of painkillers shortens life. It is often presented that you are shortening life anyway when you turn up the morphine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: That is maybe putting it too bluntly. Where does palliative sedation come in? That does not satisfy those who want this on grounds of autonomy and complete control. However, is it in the end possible to manage pain and suffering in most, if not all, cases if sedation is factored in where necessary towards the end?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: A loved one of mine spent some time in intensive care during the summer. They were high dependency rather than critically ill, thank God. There was a moment we were grateful for, during a couple of days when she was in complete charge of her own pain relief, with the button. She was thankful for that button and so were we.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: Following on from that, is there institutional pluralism in Ireland that would ensure that if the law was changed, hospices and otherwise would be protected? In other areas, like the termination of pregnancies, while there might be individual narrow scope for conscientious objection, there is not really talk of professional objection or institutional professional objection. I see Dr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: Listening to Dr. Colleran, it strikes me there is a health economics aspect to this subject that we as a committee have not discussed enough to date and that we may have to consider looking at. I refer to the idea that if we change the law, we might unleash dynamics around the funding of healthcare that would, in fact, undermine people's autonomy rather than add to it. That is perhaps for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I was struck by the whole question of what is dignity, and I was thinking about it in the context of the terrible stuff we are witnessing happening in Gaza now. For me, it is a fundamental principle that everybody has dignity and always has dignity. The question is whether the person's dignity is being respected in a given situation. This is why I do not like the term "dying with dignity",...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: Does Dr. Molloy want to add something?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: Helping people to live well until they die is how we described it, and how we heard it described, when I was involved in compiling a report on this subject some years ago in the context of the Council of Europe.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: To some degree, I respectfully disagree with my friend Gino. I have a strong sense over the past couple of weeks from the testimony of some of those who work more carefully and closely with people in the area of mental health in terms of suicide prevention, our expert psychiatrists and our witnesses today as experts in end-of-life love and care, that there is a real sense that what are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Access to Palliative Care and Social Supports: Discussion (21 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I will ask one final question. We hear a lot of talk about opinion polls and what they say on one issue or another. I am thinking these days, for example, about opinion polls on immigration. The view is sometimes taken that if certain attitudes come up in opinion polls, this can point to the need for more public information. If opinion polls were to show majority support for a change in...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages [Resumed] (15 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: And amendment No. 23.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages [Resumed] (15 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages [Resumed] (15 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 20: In page 14, line 26, to delete “member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of superintendent” and substitute “judge of the District Court”.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages [Resumed] (15 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages [Resumed] (15 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 22: In page 15, to delete lines 8 and 9 and substitute the following: “(b) the name of the District Court judge and the date of approval,”.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages [Resumed] (15 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 23: In page 15, line 13, to delete “member of the Garda Síochána” and substitute “District Court judge”.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages [Resumed] (15 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages [Resumed] (15 Nov 2023)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 25.