Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Jake's family to the Gallery. I understand well the objective of Senator Mac Lochlainn and his colleagues in introducing this Bill. The background sets a tragic picture of what happened to this young man. I also understand a family's passion to make a difference and effect change after such an experience.

Having worked in the coroner's court as a solicitor, it has a limited function and cannot consider issues of criminal or civil liability or attribute such to an individual. I understand from the Minister that the Attorney General has given legal advice on this matter, which we must take on board. Essentially, the advice is that there is a risk of what Senator Mac Lochlainn is proposing being interpreted as apportioning some liability to the medical practitioner who prescribed the medication in the first place. This is not to say that liability is removed, only that it cannot be considered, and it does not mean that liability cannot be considered in another forum, for example, the courts. This is the Attorney General's opinion on the verdict of iatrogenic suicide and I understand that it is in this vein that the Minister is proceeding. On that basis, I am in the Minister's hands where this matter is concerned, but I understand the Senators' objective. There is a legal obstacle, but it cannot be readily dismissed. There rests the matter as far as I am concerned.