Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not a member of the committee but I have been listening with interest to all of the contributions. I thank the Chairman and the committee for the work they are doing on organ donation. I come from a donor family, and this is the first time I have spoken about it on public record. Almost 24 years ago I tragically lost a sister, my nearest sibling, to a brain haemorrhage. At the time we as a family spoke about organ donation. It is something which appears at a very tragic moment in a family's life and we did not have much time to think about it. We decided she would donate and I must say, almost 24 years later, it is one of the most fulfilling things we did as a family and is something of which we are very proud. She donated two kidneys to two different individuals, one a young man the same age as her and another man who was quite a bit older. Both men are now close friends of the family and visit us and we speak openly about it. We gave them a whole new life. I am very much in favour of any proposal which would encourage donation in any way. I have listened carefully to the arguments on presumed consent and we should consider it. If people wish to opt out then let them do so. Organ donation is a valuable gift which we can all give.