GARDAÍ ARE expected to interview staff on RTÉ Radio 1's Liveliveprogramme as part of a criminal investigation into claims by a contributor to the show that she killed her terminally ill father to end his suffering.
A Garda spokesman said an investigation had begun into the claims. He said the circumstances around the assertions broadcast on Monday would be investigated.
Officers will question the show's staff about the identity of the female caller and her whereabouts in the State.
Sources in RTÉ have told The Irish Timesthey are satisfied the claims are true and stand over the broadcast. Gardaí contacted the broadcaster and requested a copy of the broadcast. They have also asked RTÉ to identify the caller.
A spokesman for the broadcaster said the request had been forwarded to its solicitors. He could not say how the request would be handled.
However, one RTÉ source said the caller had been given a guarantee of anonymity and it was anticipated that this would be honoured.
The Garda investigation was started after a caller to the show, who was identified only as "Jane", said she had given her ill father an anaesthetic to help him die and end his suffering.
"He was suffering; he was in terrible pain," she told presenter Damien O'Reilly, who is filling in for regular host Joe Duffy.
"He wasn't going to get better; I was told by the doctors treating him that he was dying slowly but surely. He was wasting away, he couldn't eat.
"He was on a drip. I got the needle. I inserted it into a tube on the drip, which went into his hand. He took a little breath and he was gone. His pain was over. His suffering was over."
She had thought about the consequences of her actions and was prepared to face them if necessary. She would put her love for her father before any legal consequences, she said.
Jane was contributing to a Livelinedebate about RTÉ's Fair Cityprogramme, which followed the death by euthanasia of a terminally ill character, Floyd Phelan.
She told Livelineshe had helped her father die 10 years ago when he was dying of cancer. She said she discussed the matter with her father. While he was worried she could "get in any trouble", he did not want his suffering to continue.
"He didn't ask me in any words like, 'put me out of my agony'. He told me he wouldn't want to linger, that he wouldn't want to be in pain, and he would love to be able to slip away peacefully.
"I offered to help him and he looked at me and he held my hand. And . . . I knew I was going to do everything to help him."
She said her father was in a hospital ward with six other terminally ill cancer patients, "with just curtains between them and very little care or dignity".
She had used anaesthetic, which she had access to in her workplace, the location of which was not disclosed on the programme.
She was satisfied with her actions and had spoken only to a priest about what she had done. She said she did not consult other family members, who believed her father had died of natural causes.
She had not carried her actions as a burden and only consulted a priest to get his opinion.
While no other family members knew what had happened, she said they were glad her father's suffering was over when they learned of his death.