THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE on voluntary assisted dying will be able to be established “as soon as humanly possible”, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl has said.

It comes as People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, who tabled the bill in 2020, said that the delay on the establishment of the special Oireachtas Committee was “extremely frustrating”.

Kenny said that it had been 18 months since the Justice Committee recommended a special committee on assisted dying and that nothing had progressed since.

He previously told The Journal that he expected the special Oireachtas Committee to be in place by October.

“Since then, nothing has happened and it’s extremely, extremely frustrating to say the least,” Kenny told reporters this morning.

“I think we need to have a national conversation in relation to this issue.”

When Kenny raised it during the Order of Business in the Dáil this afternoon, the Ceann Comhairle said that it was a matter for the Dáil Reform Committee, who are set to receive a report on the special committee next week.

“If they agree on that, the committee – which has already been agreed in principal to be established – can proceed as soon as is humanly possible,” Ó Fearghaíl said.

Kenny said that he believed the Committee could be established before Christmas and said that the issue has “gone on for too long”.

Last week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the bill needed further “teasing out”, calling it a “very complex issue”.

Martin didn’t give any assurances that the bill would be passed through the Oireachtas by the end of the Government’s term.

Kenny said that there were currently no impediments for the Government to form the committee, due to the surrogacy committee’s completion earlier this year.