Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I thank those who attended the One Day More briefing yesterday and for their kind comments in the Seanad afterwards. The people who deserve credit are the families who were so generous in telling their stories and sharing the wisdom and insights gathered from their experience of having children with severe disability or fatal foetal abnormality. We were all encouraged by them and some interest has been shown in hearing more from the families. Perhaps in September they will come to Leinster House and meet some of the Oireachtas Members who did not have the chance to attend yesterday. I thank the Leader for signalling his openness to a debate in the autumn about perinatal hospice care in particular.

I echo the importance of a debate on suicide. In that report, Pain and Distress in Rural Ireland, I was struck by the words of a man called Niall who said he did not have the courage to live after his experience, with marital breakdown and alcoholism in the mix of his suffering. I was reminded of the line from the famous Victor Frankl, that the person who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how. It would be a good thing if the Seanad could contribute to the debate on how society can address this issue and help people deal with issues causing unhappiness in their lives and reduce the tragic figures of suicide.