The National Council of the Forum on End of Life in Ireland takes a broad life cycle approach to end of life. While anxious that health care issues are firmly on the agenda, it wants the legal, ethical, financial, educational and administrative aspects to be addressed.
It is currently engaged with a Work Plan involving ten main areas.
The National Council's founding Chairperson is Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness, the former Supreme Court Judge, and out-going President of the Law Reform Commission.
The National Council which held its first meeting in May 2010, is carrying forward the work and vision of the Forum on End of Life in Ireland which was established in 2009.
The Council is advising on an agenda for the annual meeting of the Forum on End-of-Life in Ireland, which will next take place in Dublin on Wednesday October 12, 2011.
It has produced a Discussion Document on the case for reform and regulation of the funeral industry. NC Funeral Industry Proposals Funeral industry.pdf (0.73 MB, Adobe PDF)
It has also been working on the issues of Pronouncing, Certifying and Registering Death.
In its work, the National Council considers a wide range of documents
and reports in relation to end-of-life issues.
Among these are the
National Audit on End-of-Life Care in Hospitals in Ireland
, the Quality
Standards for End-of-Life Care in Hospitals, and the Ethical Framework
for End-of-Life Care. These have emerged from the Hospice Friendly
Hospitals Programme, a project of the Irish Hospice Foundation.
The Council meets at least four times a year. Its secretarial and administrative functions are provided by the Irish Hospice Foundation which is represented on the Council.
The initial council was formed by invitation of the Irish Hospice
Foundation's Project Board for the Forum and the Chairperson, Mrs.
Justice McGuinness. Membership of the National Council reflects a wide range of stakeholders and the diversity of Irish society.