Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Murphy and the Technical Group for allowing me some of their time to speak on this very important motion. I also thank and compliment my colleague, Deputy Fleming, for his research and the work he has put into this very important subject.

There are many different facets to this debate and I hope the Government will see the merit in this motion. I certainly hope it will see its validity and sincerity and that there should be no requirement for a vote tomorrow. There should be cross-party agreement on the thrust of the motion. Every one of us knows people who have been waiting for years for an organ transplant, people who are on dialysis or suffering really bad health. I wish to put on the record of the Dáil that I had a very close friend who was waiting for a transplant. A call came in the middle of the night and this person got as far as making it to England for the transplant but unfortunately it was cancelled at the last minute. That was a tragedy, and it was her last chance. She was a beautiful young girl and she never got her transplant. Very sadly, she lost her life while waiting for it.

That returns to the issue of whether one is included "in" unless one opts out.

I have an open mind on it. We would have to give the matter careful consideration and allow all sectors of society to participate in a wide-ranging debate on whether we should go down that road. I can see the benefits it would bring to those waiting for transplants by making more organs available, but we would have to decide whether it was something with which society would be happy.

Thanks to Deputy Tom Fleming, we have an opportunity to debate these issues tonight and tomorrow night. This is the first step in deciding whether to make such a change. We are all concerned about the people who are ill and awaiting transplants.

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