Ireland’s proposed new assisted dying laws will include strong safeguards to ensure nobody is pressured into ending their life early, according to one of the TDs driving the legislation.

This afternoon, an Oireachtas committee will urge the Government to make assisted dying and euthanasia legal in Ireland.

The  Oireachtas Joint Committee on Assisted Dying will recommend the legalisation of assisted death for patients diagnosed with terminal conditions that are "incurable, irreversible, progressive and advanced," and for whom suffering cannot be relieved in a way they find "tolerable".

The time limit will generally be set at six months, with 12 months for neurodegenerative conditions.

People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny has been at the forefront of the campaign for the legalisation of assisted dying for years and is the vice chair of the committee.

He told Newstalk Breakfast that the committee has examined the issue in depth over the past 12 months.

“There were over 24 public meetings and it heard from over 100 witnesses in relation to this issue,” he said.  

“[It’s] a fairly complex issue and we concluded as a majority on the committee that in certain circumstances assisted dying should be legislated [for] in Ireland.” 

The question of assisted dying is fundamentally a question of bodily autonomy.

I believe that people should be given the power and dignity to decide how they want to die when facing a terminal illness.#DyingWithDignity pic.twitter.com/gjmUAPcK5d

— Gino Kenny TD (@Ginosocialist) July 11, 2023

Deputy Kenny introduced his Dying with Dignity Bill back in October 2020 but the legislation failed to win Government support. 

More than three years on, the People Before Profit TD said the committee’s conclusions are “hugely significant” and set out in detail how the law should be changed.  

“The committee has recommended that in limited circumstances, someone with a terminal diagnosis with less than six months and someone with neurodegenerative condition with 12 months or less could avail of assisted dying,” he said. 

“In relation to safeguards, there would be two doctors that are independent of each other. 

“[So,] that if somebody makes an approach around assisted dying, those doctors would be qualified around assisted dying legislation and also looking out for coercion - and that’s really important.

“At all times, that person that makes that request for assisted dying must have capability and capacity at all times throughout that process.” 

Not all members of the Committee voted in favour of the report and three members, Chair Michael Healy Rae, Senator Ronan Mullen and TD Robert Troy will issue their own minority report. 

Deputy Kenny said there was “never” going to be unanimity in the committee’s conclusions and he “completely respects” his colleagues' right to hold a different view.

Main image: People Before Profit's Gino Kenny on the plinth of the Leinister House. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie