David Norris (Independent)

I support Senator Fitzgerald's amendment because sometimes it can be critical to have these assessments done quickly. As she said, many of these patients are highly dependent. There may be an urgency about it. Speaking professionally as a member of the NUJ, I worked as a journalist for a mass circulation newspaper for three and a half years and I found the fact that I had a deadline of lunchtime on Thursday focused the mind wonderfully. I am what Sean O'Casey would have called a prognosticator and a prevaricator and I believe things can be very easily put off to the next day or whenever. This kind of thing concentrates the mind. I strongly support the principle but I am not sure about the six weeks timeframe. While I do not mean I withdraw my support because of this, I am not sure how appropriate that timeframe is. It may be that a shorter or longer term might be necessary in some circumstances. I would be interested to hear the Minister of State's views on this but the idea of a target date and a time limit is good in ensuring efficiency.