Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders—

(1) A Special Committee consisting of 5 members of Seanad Éireann be appointed, to be joined with a Special Committee to be appointed by Dáil Éireann, to form the Joint Committee on Assisted Dying;

(2) The Joint Committee shall consider and make recommendations for legislative and/or policy change in relation to a statutory right to assist a person to end their life (assisted dying), and a statutory right to receive such assistance;

Such consideration may include but is not limited to: (a) an exploration of how provision for assisted dying might operate in Ireland;

(b) an examination of safeguards in relation to the provision for assisted dying;

(c) an examination of the Constitutional, legal, and ethical issues in relation to such a provision; and

(d) identification of possible unintended consequences of such a provision; (3) In its deliberations, the Joint Committee shall have regard to the report dated July,2021,published by the Joint Committee on Justice on Scrutiny of the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 [Private Member’s Bill], and shall be provided with all submissions made to that Committee for the purposes of that scrutiny;

(4) The Joint Committee shall report to both Houses of the Oireachtas on the matters contained in paragraph (2) within nine months of the first public meeting of the Joint Committee;

(5) The quorum of the Joint Committee shall be four, at least one of whom shall be a member of Seanad Éireann, and one a member of Dáil Éireann;

(6) Members of either House, not being members of the Joint Committee, may attend and take part in proceedings of the Joint Committee, or any sub-Committee thereof, but without having a right to vote or to move motions or amendments, save where they attend, pursuant to Standing Orders, as a substitute for an absent member (or for a substitute not in attendance);(7) The member of Dáil Éireann nominated by the Rural Independent Group to serve on the Joint Committee shall be Chairperson; and(8)The Joint Committee shall have the powers defined in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (9) and (10) of Standing Order 72.