Mr. Brendan Gilligan:

I am a heart transplant recipient of 11 years. The first heart transplant took place in the Mater Hospital in September 1985. Until the end of December 2012, there have been 296 heart transplants in Ireland. The Irish Heart and Lung Transplant Association is a non-Government funded patient group. We welcome the opportunity to put forward our view on the proposed changes in organ donation from opt-in to op-out and the problems this would create if it is changed without specific measures being put in place beforehand.

Ireland is a very giving and altruistic society and our current donation rates, while not the highest in Europe, are still about 20 per million of population which ranks us just above mid-table in the list of European countries. However, we can and should do better. There is no evidence that presumed consent soft opt-out by itself will improve donor rates and to consider it without having the necessary infrastructure in place to support it would harm the gift of life ethic, which is so important to the idea of organ donation.

Therefore, before considering a change from opt-in to opt-out, let us look at the infrastructure that needs to be in place. First, we need specialised donor co-ordinators in all our major hospitals. As alluded to by Mr. Murphy, the NHS Blood and Transplant recently released details of a 50% increase in donation figures over the past number of years. One of the major factors in achieving that was the employment of a network of 250 specialist nurse co-ordinators throughout the UK system. Second, we need a national donor registry. The Government needs to give sufficient resources to publicity campaigns across the country to inform people of the meaning of presumed consent and to promote donor awareness. We also need proper funding for our national organ donation transplant office to allow it to function to its full potential. The importance of the infrastructure cannot be underestimated and will require additional resources to ensure that presumed consent soft opt-out is introduced properly.

It would be wrong for committee members and their colleagues to legislate for a change to opt-out thinking that it will improve organ donation and transplantation without first addressing the weaknesses and gaps that exist in our current system. We support the premise of presumed consent soft opt-out but only if the aforementioned infrastructure is set in place beforehand. We owe it to the public and the many people awaiting a life-saving organ transplant to ensure that this is introduced with the necessary measures in place.