Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

That is the conviction of the Government and the basis of the thinking in the Prospectus report. The amendment is very well worded and is "subject to the provisions of the Act and to available resources" but there is a danger that were we to enact legislation in that very general sense at this or any point, decisions on treatment would be made in the courts instead of by health and social care professionals. That is one of the difficulties of a rights-based approach when it is based on a lack of specificity about what are the precise rights. When we adopt that approach we transfer powers from this House, and from Ministers accountable to this House, to the courts.