Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to speak on the important and very detailed report on the public consultation on consent for organ donation. I thank those involved in its production, including the Chairman of the committee, Deputy Jerry Buttimer, and the clerk. Producing it was not easy. One thousand and thirty-eight submissions were received from individuals. Thirty were received from organisations, including the Alpha One Foundation, An Bord Altranais, Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, the Irish Donor Network, the Irish Hospice Foundation, the Irish Heart and Lung Transplant Association, the Irish Kidney Association, the national liver transplant unit in St. Vincent's University Hospital, and many more. The process involved consultation at its best.

I am delighted there was such a wide range of consultation and that a wide range of views was included. Some of the views varied, but this report highlights the fact that we have not been doing enough for organ transplantation over the years. One need only look at the figures for Ireland.

I and many other people would love to think that in our passing from this life we could help to save another life. I am familiar with this situation. In 2001, my father had to go on dialysis. He was too old at the time to seek an organ transplant, but even if he had been young enough it would have been very difficult to get one. I recall the first time we went to Beaumont Hospital. We were very encouraged by the resources there and by the system organised by the Irish Kidney Association, which assisted us. It has a place in the grounds of Beaumont Hospital where my mother could stay. The support the association gave us, not of a financial nature but in terms of information, made us feel we were not alone. It was much appreciated. I got involved in the Irish Kidney Association, as most people do, because of that assistance. We did not seek it but it was given to us.

I have been involved over the years in national collection days, selling flowers, seeking donations and so forth. In fact, my political career in the Oireachtas was due to the Irish Kidney Association nominating me to run for election to the Seanad for the Administrative Panel in 2002. Thankfully, I was elected. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Irish Kidney Association and, of course, to the councillors who voted for me. I enjoyed my time in the Seanad, where I could raise issues such as this. I was spokesperson on health. The Seanad has been retained and sometimes it is a great forum to raise issues. One could raise issues on the Order of Business and it was not as busy as the Dáil from a legislative point of view. I am delighted the Dáil has sittings such as this. It allows government backbenchers, of whom there are many, to put their views on the record of the Dáil, as we are doing today.

My father was not the best patient. He used to travel to Sligo for dialysis. The service there was great and the nurses and doctors were excellent and very patient. However, when he came home from the dialysis, which he received three times per week, he would go next door to have a pint of Guinness. That did not help my mother's patience, but the health system was very good to him. He passed away 13 years ago but I do not think he fully appreciated the issues involved in kidney donation. Again, I am grateful for the work done for him in Beaumont Hospital and in Sligo and for the support of the Irish Kidney Association.

I thank the Minister for allocating the €2.9 million. We genuinely need those additional resources in 2014 and the staff additional to those the HSE already has in the national organ donation system. We must now push for increased organ donation with this extra funding and staff. A system whereby the consent of an individual to organ donation is deemed to be given unless the person has specifically opted out during their lifetime is very welcome. Every year, members of the Irish Kidney Association spend their time distributing cards to pharmacists and doctors and urging people to get an organ donation card and keep it in their wallet. However, with all the preaching I have done in the last ten years, I do not have a card in my wallet. We all have great intentions but this is something we always put on the long finger, or we sign the card and then take it out of our wallet one day and do not put it back. This has hampered the level of donation in this country. As Deputy Mitchell O'Connor said, we have much to learn from other countries such as Spain.

This is a case of the Minister and the committee grasping this issue and saying, "We are sick and tired of talking about this. This has been talked about in good times and it should have been dealt with in those times." The soft opt-out system provides a comfort to people who do not share my view. The deceased's next of kin will have a very important role in the process of organ donation. If they feel uncomfortable, they will have a view as well. That is very welcome.

There was a degree of controversy about this issue. In politics, the Opposition must oppose and hold the Government to account. That is fine. However, opposition for the sake of opposition is wrong, and it is certainly very difficult with regard to health issues. People can stand up and make outlandish and outrageous accusations and allegations which are featured on every local radio station and website and even here in the Dáil. Fortunately, after a week, two weeks, a year or even 20 years they are proved wrong. I was on the radio recently talking about a report that should have embarrassed people holding certain positions regarding health. I must defend the report and I am held to account, which is correct. However, what about the people who make outrageous, outlandish and untrue statements? Perhaps it is time for the media to confront them and say, "You made this statement a year or two years ago. You said people would die and that this would close. Are you proved wrong?".

The Minister and the Government will get it wrong and when that happens we will put up our hands and admit it. But what about when we get it right? When I was in the Opposition I held the then Minister, former Deputy Michael Finneran, to account when he was wrong but when he was right I acknowledged that the Government had made the right decision and welcomed it. That is what it is about. Let us not oppose for the sake of opposing. Most Deputies in this House are united on this matter and I thank Deputy Ó Caoláin and all the other Deputies for their submissions. However, there is a race to the bottom. In the case of opposition for the sake of opposition and deriding what is happening in the health area, there must be a little generosity. Sometimes one must say, "Yes; maybe we got it wrong," but nobody seems to do that anymore.

I thank the Minister. The most important matter today is, I hope, that this increases the number of organ transplants in this country.

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