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Assisted suicide (Ireland)

Publication

Assisted suicide (Ireland)
  • August 2026

Campaigners for so-called ‘assisted dying’ want to enable terminally ill adults to get help to kill themselves.

In October 2024, the Dáil voted to note the report of an Oireachtas committee, which recommended legalising assisted suicide for adults in Ireland and Irish citizens resident in Northern Ireland or elsewhere. Pro-assisted suicide TDs are pushing to implement the report, determined to keep it on the agenda.

References

References

  1. 1See, for example, Submission by Independent Living Movement Ireland to Dignity with Dying Bill, January 2021, see https://ilmi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ILMI-Submission-on-the-Dying-With-Dignity-Bill.pdf as at 28 July 2026
  2. 2 Marie Fleming v Ireland [2013], IEHC 2
  3. 3 See Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2025 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, revised 17 June 2026, page 16
  4. 4 Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada, Health Canada, November 2025, page 27
  5. 5 Oral evidence: Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, 5 November 2024, col. 18
  6. 6 ‘Compassion and Dignity for Terminally Ill Victorians’, Premier of Victoria, 14 October 2025, see https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/compassion-and-dignity-terminally-ill-victorians as at 1 July 2026
  7. 7 Policy Position Statements: Dementia and access to Voluntary Assisted Dying, Dementia Australia, April 2023
  8. 8 The West Australian online, 30 March 2026, https://thewest.com.au/news/health/fresh-calls-to-change-commonwealth-law-blocking-voluntary-assisted-dying-access-for-regional-patients--c-22065102 as at 2 July 2026
  9. 9 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2025 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, revised 17 June 2026, page 10
  10. 10 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2021 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, February 2022, page 14
  11. 11 ‘Eligibility for medical assistance in dying for persons suffering solely from mental illness extended to March 17, 2024’, Government of Canada, 9 March 2023, see https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2023/03/eligibility-for-medical-assistance-in-dying-for-persons-suffering-solely-from-mental-illness-extended-to-march-17-2024.html as at 28 July 2026
  12. 12 Calabro, E P, ‘Canada is killing itself’, The Atlantic, September 2025
  13. 13 Jaarverslag 2025, Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie, March 2026, page 6
  14. 14 NL Times, 26 March 2026, see https://nltimes.nl/2026/03/26/10341-euthanasia-deaths-last-year-38-fifth-fewer-mental-health-related-requests as at 4 June 2026
  15. 15 Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada, Health Canada, November 2025, page 9
  16. 16 State of VAD 2026: Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia & New Zealand, Go Gentle Australia, March 2026, pages 6 and 9
  17. 17 Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID): Discussion Paper, Submission to the Oireachtas Justice Committee in consideration of the Dying with Dignity Bill by Irish Doctors Supporting MAID, January 2021, page 1
  18. 18 Ibid, page 4
  19. 19 Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada, Health Canada, November 2025, pages 9 and 11
  20. 20 Vogel, L, ‘Canada needs twice as many palliative specialists’, CMAJ, 189(1), January 2017
  21. 21 Access to Palliative Care in Canada 2023, Canadian Institute for Health Information, April 2023, page 14
  22. 22 Herx, L, ‘MAid and Palliative Care’, in Coelho, R, Gaind, K S and Lemmens, T (Eds), Unravelling MAiD in Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025, page 170
  23. 23 Canadian Guideline for Parkinson Disease, 2nd Edition, Parkinson Canada, 2019
  24. 24 Coelho, R, Gaind, K S and Lemmens, T, Op cit, page 171
  25. 25 Coelho, R, Gaind, K S and Lemmens, T, Op cit, page 179
  26. 26 EWTN News, 6 April 2024, see https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/americas/hospice-leader-in-canada-promotes-anti-euthanasia-film-my-life-s-work as at 28 July 2026; ‘Fraser Health issues notice of breach of lease to Delta Hospice Society’, Fraser Health, 26 February 2021, see https://www.fraserhealth.ca/news/2021/Feb/fraser-health-issues-notice-of-breach-of-lease-to-delta-hospice-society as at 28 July 2026
  27. 27 National Post online, 25 May 2026, see https://nationalpost.com/news/ontario-man-dies-of-maid-after-being-assessed-outside-tim-hortons as at 17 July 2026
  28. 28 CBC News, 12 April 2024, see https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/assisted-death-quadriplegic-quebec-man-er-bed-sore-1.7171209 as at 21 July 2026
  29. 29 National Post online, 22 June 2023, see https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/quadriplegic-ontario-mother-maid-assisted-suicide as at 21 July 2026
  30. 30 Research Co, 5 May 2023, see https://researchco.ca/2023/05/05/maid-canada-2023/ as at 28 July 2026
  31. 31 The Walrus online, 30 May 2023, see https://thewalrus.ca/assisted-dying/ as at 28 July 2026
  32. 32 Position Paper on Assisted Dying, Irish Association for Palliative Care, May 2023
  33. 33 Position Paper on Assisted Dying, Irish Association for Palliative Care, May 2023
  34. 34 Irish Times online, 10 November 2020, see https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/physician-assisted-dying-complex-issue-that-requires-open-and-honest-debate-1.4397648 as at 28 July 2026
  35. 35 ‘Dying is not as bad as you think’, BBC Ideas YouTube video, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CruBRZh8quc as at 26 February 2025
  36. 36 House of Commons, Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Public Bill Committee Hansard, 28 January 2025, col. 54
  37. 37 House of Commons, Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Public Bill Committee Hansard, 28 January 2025, col. 73
  38. 38 IHF Submission to Justice Committee from Irish Hospice Foundation on the on the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020,Irish Hospice Foundation, 20 January 2021

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