Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his comments and questions. With regard to the three reviews, the first is a review of what happened and why. I am advised that we will have that around the start of November. On the second review, which is the perinatal review of standards and procedures, we have not been given a concluding time for it, but we are asking the question as to when we might have it. Regarding the system-wide review and whether this happened anywhere else, we expect to receive that from the HSE in approximately three weeks. That is the detail on the reviews.

With regard to who will be held to account and Covid, we need to allow the review to happen. I need to be conscious not to prejudice the review in any way. It will be a thorough review. I ask that it be allowed to happen, following which we can look at the results. We can discuss it here, but I imagine is something the Joint Committee on Health might want to engage on directly with the HSE. There are various different ways we can do that.

On the Bill, it is important. Believe it or not, it started with the Madden report in 2006. It was drafted in 2019. I have set it for priority in this Dáil session. If I were in the shoes of colleagues, I might be asking if this legislation is being prioritised because of what has happened. I give them my word that the Chief Whip and I prioritised this several weeks ago in drawing up the legislative priorities. Long before any of this came up, we had prioritised it. The human tissue Bill is important legislation. Essentially, it will implement the key recommendation of the Madden report that no hospital post mortem examination should be carried out and no tissue retained for any purpose without the informed consent of the family or next of kin. The Bill will ensure that the principles of protection for bodily integrity of the individual before and after death and respect the autonomy of the individual and the rights of the bereaved. The Joint Committee on Health will carry out the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. On the timing in that regard, I hope to bring the recommendation to Cabinet in this Dáil session, and in the following Dáil session, to have it before the House. The following is not relevant to the conversation we are having now, but there is another reason the Bill is important. If passed by the Houses, it will enshrine in legislation an opt-out system for organ donation, replacing the current opt-in system, which can and will, we would all hope, save many lives in the coming years. It is important legislation.

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