Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The central issue is that the law is not clear in terms of the ability of 16- and 17-year-olds to overrule their legal guardians. That is an unclear part of our law in regard to a wide range of areas. The issue is wider than what we are considering in this Chamber. Senator Ruane alluded to the many complex situations in which this arises. I have my own view about where the balance should be, but it is not one that is fully established. Therefore, in the context of this legislation we are not in a position to make a firm or final determination on the view of a 16- or 17-year-old in the context of an AHD they made, when there is disagreement with the parent or guardian, given the question across the wider sweep of guardianship law is still unclear.

We engaged with the Departments of Health and Justice on this to see if it could be written into this legislation that 16- and 17-year-olds would be able to rely on advanced healthcare directives, but because the wider issue has not been resolved, we will not be able to resolve it in the context of this one piece of legislation. I accept the legitimate arguments brought forward. There are constitutional issues. Constitutionally, someone under the age of 18 years is a child and there are issues in terms of the rights of parents towards their children.We have come a long way in terms of the autonomy we extend to young people but there are still some central issues that this legislation is not going to be able to resolve on its own. Unfortunately I am not going to be in a position to accept these amendments.