Residency rule for assisted dying ‘suicide tourism’

A 12-MONTH residency rule to stop “suicide tourism” should be implemented if assisted dying is introduced here, an Oireachtas Committee will recommend.

The Committee on Assisted Dying will launch its near-100 page report, seen by the Irish Mirror, in Dublin’s Leinster House this afternoon.

The Oireachtas Committee, which sat for nine months and heard testimonies from those for and against the proposal, will recommend the Government introduces legislation allowing for assisted dying in “certain restricted circumstances” for over-18s.

It will recommend that only a person diagnosed with a disease, illness or medical condition that is both incurable and irreversible will be “eligible to be assessed for assisted dying”.

The illness must be advanced and progressive and will cause death within six months. This should extend to 12 months for those with a neurodegenerative condition. It must also be causing suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner the person finds tolerable.

To prevent so-called “health tourism” or “suicide tourism” in Ireland if assisted dying is introduced, the Committee will recommend that eligibility for assisted dying should be “limited to Irish citizens or those ordinarily resident in the State for a period of not less than 12 months”. This, they noted, has been done in other countries, with the “notable exception of Switzerland”. The Irish Mirror understands that not all TDS and Senators on the Assisted Dying Committee agreed on the report’s recommendations.

An email sent to members by Chairman Michael Healy-rae yesterday advised members that he and Senator Ronan Mullen will launch a set of “minority recommendations on behalf of the three Committee members who dissented from adoption of the final report”.