Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share a thought. This Bill is supposed to be empowering for so many people. We all could speak at length about our disappointment. However, I just want to put on the record that we are dangling a carrot in front of people, telling them that we are working towards and listening to their will and wants, and we are improving our advance healthcare directives. We are then kicking it off into the ocean, saying it might not actually work. We might not listen to them unless they can swim out and catch it. I just do not think it is acceptable that we are putting through a disempowering Bill. We are talking about ratifying the optional protocol and saying this Bill is necessary for it. Not listening and not empowering is certainly not a way forward to implement and adhere to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I just wanted to put that on the record.