Fianna Fáil Deputies are to be allowed a free vote on the issue, and campaigning TD Gino Kenny has called on other Government parties to follow suit.
Mr Kenny pointed to the outcome of the Joint Committee on Assisted Dying to support legislation for assisted dying.
He called on the whole Government to grant a free vote on the motion when it comes before the Dáil next Wednesday for a vote of TDs.
“Ultimately it will be up to the next Government to legislate in line with the committee’s recommendations,” he said.
The committee, which some see as endorsing euthanasia, was established in the wake of a number of long-running controversial cases.
National legislation became a far more likely prospect when Tánaiste Micheál Martin told the Dáil today that he had decided “it will be a vote of conscience for every individual of the Fianna Fáil party”.
Mr Martin, who took a similar stance on repeal of the Eighth amendment prohibiting abortion, said he could not speak for other political parties within Government.
Mr Kenny had just asked him if he would “grant TDs in the Government parties a free vote” when the matter is dealt with next Wednesday.
The Final Report of the Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying is being debated in the Dáil this afternoon.
It gives the green light for people choosing to end their own lives with the help of others, once a number of tight conditions are met, including registered intent and medical certification of an unendurable condition.
Mr Kenny said the committee had sat for 26 sessions and heard from over 100 witnesses, “including those who want to choose how they die.”
He said he believed that ten years ago he would have been in a minority by his favouring assisted dying, “but opinion has shifted — and opinion polls have shown a clear majority that would approve assisted dying in this country.”
He said he understood there would be some who would oppose assisted dying in any circumstances, but he believed it was “a fundamental human right” that individuals could have a final say on their own mortality.
Mr Kenny praised the British broadcaster Esther Rantzen, who has recently come out in favour of assisted dying. She is suffering from terminal lung cancer.
Despite today’s speeches, there will not be a vote on the issue until next Wednesday. If approved, there is unlikely to be sufficient time left in this Dáil for enabling legislation to be drawn up, never mind debated or passed into law.
Mr Martin said that Fianna Fáil has “had a view for close to a decade now, that issues to do with life are an issue of conscience.
“That will remain the position in respect of this”.
But he stressed: “I myself don’t agree with this legislation. I have really serious reservations.”
