Society must promote hope, but assisted suicide is a “statement of no hope”, the mother of Donal Walsh, whose teenage son’s battle against cancer received huge publicity 10 years ago, told an Oireachtas committee.

Speaking before the Joint Committee on Assisted Dying on Tuesday, Elma Walsh, raised the palliative care her received before he died.

She warned that introducing assisted suicide would “undermine the trust placed in doctors when it comes to end-of-life care”.

Ms Walsh said that while “society must promote hope, assisted suicide is a message of no hope”.

“Telling young people that their life itself is valuable, no matter how uphill it seems at the time, and legalising assisted dying at the same time is to bring about a clash of cultures.”

Ms Walsh pleaded with legislators and politicians to avert the “bizarre situation” where on “one hand we are putting out messages of suicide prevention and on the other we would be offering it”.

“For some we will be saying your life is not living, suicide will be the expectation not an ‘option’.”

Ms Walsh said she “feared” what could be set in motion by the committee should they support TD Gino Kenny’s bill to legalise assisted suicide.