Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to speak to the amendment because it has everything to do with evidence-based treatment. Like my friend and colleague, Senator Crown, I believe in evidence-based treatment. If evidence-based treatment was what we were legislating for, there would not be a problem. Let us look at the reality, however. The reality is that amendment No. 14, which I have proposed, changes the test required for the certifying doctors - those who will have the responsibility of certifying the procedure - from being a subjective good faith test of a kind which is increasingly discredited, to a more objective test that requires them to have regard to the relevant clinical evidence and to then jointly certify. That would be a more objective test and would approach what Senator Crown says he supports, and what I think everybody here supports, which is evidence-based medicine.