David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his opening statement. As he knows from Second Stage, I will be supporting the Bill.

I have a number of general points relevant to all of the amendments grouped here. We have to basically use this opportunity to speak about some of the issues and put it on the record on Committee Stage that we will be introducing amendments on Report Stage. If we do not do that, the amendments will not be accepted. As the Minister pointed out, he has identified and highlighted a number of areas to which he intends to return by means of further amendments on Report Stage. A number of the amendments I am speaking to are those which were submitted to this committee by the Irish Kidney Association. Some of them are very important.

Our proposed amendments relate to the inclusion of parameters for an annual audit for potential donors, inclusion of an opt in and opt out system, issues around required requests, inclusion of a donor family representative to be appointed to the independent panel and statutory responsibility for organ donor awareness and organ trafficking. These are some of the issues the Irish Kidney Association have raised with us. It asked that we would table amendments on Report Stage. It will be necessary to have a technical briefing on the Minister's amendments but my understanding is that the association may also be meeting the Minister in due course regarding its proposed amendments. It would be useful to have a technical briefing similar to previous Bills where we had that relationship between the Select Committee on Health and the Minister. If we were able to have discussions with him informally at that technical briefing on those amendments that have been proposed by the Irish Kidney Association, that could be useful as well as an indication that some of those amendments could then be brought forward.

One of the amendments the association is proposing, which is relevant to some of the amendments we are discussing, is an opt in and an opt out provision and whether that is something which the Minister would consider. Part of the problem is that in the first instance we do not have an existing register of organ donation in the State. The association says that if we were to have an opt-in and opt-out, we could use the 1.4 million people who have proactively expressed a wish to donate that is recorded on their driver's licence but that information cannot be accessed by the Department of Health. That could be used to build a register, or to build an opt in, and even with the opt out, because family consent is still important, if someone proactively expresses an interest in making a donation and when a family has to make a decision, I imagine that it would be quite traumatic and a very difficult time. If at that point the family was aware that the family member had proactively expressed an interest to donate, it might make the decision easier.

The association makes points in respect of the difference between what we are proposing, the Welsh model and the UK model. These are some of the issues we might perhaps tease out in a technical briefing, or a briefing which might also involve some of these issues.

I have two other quick points to make. One of the important Parts of this Bill, as well as organ donation, relates post mortem practices. I was talking to some of the Minister's officials outside of the room while we were waiting for the session to begin. Essentially, the Bill is the scaffolding but most of the substance of this Part will be done by way of regulation. In many ways, as a committee, we are being asked to take a leap of faith, which we will take, that the issues raised in the Madden report in 2005, the Michaela Willis report in 2007 and the Carter report in 2009 in respect of the disposal of body organs, which need to be part of those regulations, will be addressed. We raise this on Committee Stage because we may then table amendments on Report Stage. The drafting of the Bill would not prevent the sending of remains overseas for incineration nor would it require the Minister to prevent this. That needs to be examined further.

I assume that the Minister understands the sensitivities of this issue and I may also speak later to issues in pathology because that is what led to the crisis in this area and the fact that we simply did not have enough pathologists. One locum pathologist was acting outside of standard practices, which was a problem. I just wanted to flag those issues at this point to give the Minister notice that amendments may be tabled on some of those issues on Report Stage and if he is open to the suggestion of a technical briefing, and following his meeting with the Irish Kidney Association and his consideration of these amendments and of our own views, that at a technical briefing, we could come to some understanding on Report Stage. We can table the amendments but history tells us that if the Opposition tables amendments, they will not be accepted, and it is better that they come from the Minister. If he see the offer in that light, he might respond as to whether he is supportive of that proposition.