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

All the debates in this House and all the Bills that come before us are important but I believe this Bill is very important because it has the potential to save lives and create awareness of the fact that over 600 people are waiting on a transplant list for an organ donation. The subject of death and dying, and all they entail, relates to a sad event from which, unfortunately, no family or person escapes. In debating this, we must do so in a respectful way and ensure we do everything we can to preserve the great tradition of dealing sensitively with people at a time of great grief in their households. Whether you refer to opting in or opting out, trying to encourage people to be more aware of the organ donation system and the fact that it can be used to save lives is very important.

It is important to recognise the great work our excellent undertakers do in dealing with families at a sensitive time. I will start by taking the opportunity to stay very close to home and mention a great person, our local undertaker, who is heading into his mid-90s. He has been our undertaker for eight decades and works along with his son. I am referring to both Danny Quill and his great father, John Quill, of Kilgarvan. They and all the other undertakers, be they in south, mid-, north, east or west Kerry, provide an excellent service.

There is an important point I want to raise today that really has to be considered. Given its importance, I, on behalf of the people of Kerry, ask the Minister to do so and take note of it. I am referring to post mortems. A post mortem can be very important to a family because they may want it to get answers. However, the excellent people who carry out post mortems, whether at the morgue in County Kerry, in University Hospital Kerry, or the excellent facility in Cork University Hospital, can find themselves hit with a massive number of people at the same time, through absolutely no fault of their own. The family of a person deceased in County Cork, for example, will want the deceased's body to be returned home as quickly as possible so they can have a wake at home or the funeral.

In many cases that cannot happen, not because of any fault of the people involved in what needs to be done, but because they need more assistance and more of a budget. I ask the Minister to please look at the whole situation surrounding post mortems. It is an extremely vulnerable and sensitive time for a family. Yes, it has to be done. If there are any questions that need to be answered for the family, they must have the post mortem, but we must try to have it done in a speedy timeframe. That is what I ask the Minister to do.

I again express my heartfelt thanks on behalf of the people of Kerry who have had to use the services of the people providing the post mortems. I thank them for what they have done and I thank our undertakers for the great work they have done, are doing, and will do in the future.

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