Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ar an gcéad dul síos, glacaim an deis, mar aon leis an Teachta Paul Murphy, labhairt faoi chás Dháithí Mac Gabhann agus is mór an trua go bhfuil páirtí amháin ag seasamh sa tslí le go rachadh Stormont ar ais agus an reachtaíocht sin a chur tríd na Tithe sin. I take this opportunity to mention the case of Dáithí Mac Gabhann, who has been the inspiration for a huge campaign in the North for reforms of the kind envisioned here. It is a terrible shame that one party is standing in the way of that and I echo the calls for action in relation to it.

The legislation before us has been talked about for a very long time. For me, it is a matter of common sense that there would be a soft opt-out approach to organ donation. It will add enormously to ensuring that people who are in desperately grave situations and in need of organ donation and related medical assistance can be supported. I take the opportunity to pay tribute to those who, outside of this framework and in the context of tragedy and extreme circumstances, have given that enormous gift that has helped so many people.

I echo the points made by Deputies Gould and Barry in relation to the treatment of the parents in the CUMH. As has been outlined, this was exposed by RTÉ in September 2021. Until that point, those parents had no idea what had happened to the remains of their babies. I do not need to tell the Minister because I am sure he has met many people in this situation himself, but a miscarriage or event like that is a very particular and profound type of grief for a family. To have that compounded by the uncertainty at first, and then the quite shocking discovery of what had happened to the remains afterwards, only added salt to their wounds.

It added to the grief and pain those parents felt and it was completely unacceptable. It is also unacceptable that the parents were, in effect, frozen out. They were promised they would have sight of a draft report but that did not happen. The parents to whom I have spoken have not been contacted since the time of the report. It is a comprehensive report but it clearly points to very poor communication within the hospital system but also with the parents, as well as a lack of respect for what those remains meant to the parents. They needed to have confidence that the remains were looked after and disposed of in a respectful and dignified way, but clearly that did not happen. I urge the HSE to engage again with the parents.

This legislation needs to represent a new start - a change in how parents are treated and in how the remains of these babies are treated. I hope the Bill will underpin that but, in addition, there will be a change in attitude and culture.

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