End of July, the Justice Committee decided the last year proposed Dying with Dignity Bill is not workable in its current form. The Committee recommended that a Special Oireachtas Committee on assisted dying should be set up to take a deeper look at the issue.
Chair of the Justice Committee, James Lawless, says it is the technical nature of the bill that was flawed, rather than the issue itself: “The bill itself wasn’t for for purpose to progress, unfortunately as a piece of legislation it didn’t stack up. It wasn’t robust enough, there were a number of drafting errors, there were a number of technical legal errors.”
What’s next?
Sponsor of the bill, People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, says he will begin to re-draft the legislation: “I’m under no illusion that there’s a lot of work to be done but it can be overcome.” If accepted, a new committee could take another year to report – with Deputy Kenny saying he is still hopeful of passing a new bill in the lifetime of this Government.
Ireland