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

I am glad to have the opportunity to talk about this very important topic here this evening. We all know that organ donation is so important. It can make a difference and ensure that someone's life is saved. It can save the lives of people who are suffering from organ failure, be it a heart transplant, a lung transplant or a kidney transplant. We must recognise also where a family member gives one of their kidneys to ensure another family member can stay alive and have a normal healthy life. Transplants can reduce waiting lists in hospitals and decrease the number of deaths, so it is very important as we are helping others.

This Bill should increase awareness to ensure we get more donors. It is very important, however, to note that the Bill includes what the Minister for Health describes as a "soft" element. The next-of-kin of the deceased person will continue to be consulted and have a veto on any proposed transplant. If the next-of-kin objects to the donation, the donation will not then proceed. This is very important. It is a very traumatic time for someone when a family member passes away, be they young or old. It is so traumatic. Death never comes at the right time for anyone. For the family left behind it is very important to do what they feel the person who has died would have wanted. That is usually what happens and we must ensure this continues to happen. People are being told to indicate their wishes for after death. The new law creates a sort of soft opt-out regime for organ donation. The Bill aims to create a presumption that individuals are donors unless they have opted out of the scheme. The family still has a veto, however, if they feel there is something wrong or that it should not proceed. They will have the veto on the donation going ahead.

I, too, recognise the great work being done by the undertakers under extreme pressure. All of the undertakers in Kerry have certainly been under pressure for the past two months given the number of people who have died. I must recognise the work done by Quills in Kilgarvan for 70 or 80 years. It is operated now by John Quill. This man is way up in his 90s and still goes behind his shop counter every morning, and is in charge of the funerals with his son Danny. They do great work, as do the undertakers in Kenmare, Killarney, Rathmore and Gneevgullia and Firies, and all the other places. They are great people. They are very professional people. We must recognise that since the death grant was abolished they often bury people without getting a penny. I am very sad this grant has been abolished because it meant so much to families that did not have the funds to bury their next-of-kin, or if there was no one else after the dead had passed. As a result of the undertakers we have, no one has gone unburied in Kerry. They undertake to carry out the service the very same as if they had been paid or would be paid. The Minister must recognise that the Government denied the grant. We all know at this stage who did it: the crowd that were in power from 2011 to 2016.

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