Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank colleagues for their contribution this evening and for the broad support across the House for this important legislation. It is legislation that has been long promised and long fought for, both by people here within the Oireachtas and obviously by patients and patient advocacy groups as well. Thanks to getting the Bill through this evening we are close to the end of the Bill and we will progress now to the Seanad in the coming weeks. This will deliver significant advantages for patients, which is ultimately what the organ donation part of this Bill is about. Already in the first nine months of this year 217 transplants have taken place from 80 deceased and 22 living donors. We know Covid had a big impact on the number of transplants going on and it is very welcome to see our numbers are going back up again. At any point in time around 600 people are on active waiting lists for an organ donation and this legislation will continue to bring those numbers down.

I thank the Irish Kidney Association and all of the representative groups - there are other fantastic groups as well - for all of the great work they do every day on behalf of patients. I know some are here in the Gallery for the debate this evening. As we discussed earlier on, I met with the Irish Kidney Association a few weeks ago and several of the amendments to the legislation have been incorporated from its requests and further to discussion on Committee Stage with colleagues.

I would like to flag some amendments which we will be bringing forward in the Seanad. The amendments will ensure alignment between this legislation and changes to the concept of capacity brought in by the commencement of sections of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022.

I conclude by again thanking all of those who have contributed to the development and the passage of this Bill to date. That includes a lot of healthcare professionals who have been very involved in this. It includes patient advocacy groups, legal experts, Members of the Dáil and Seanad, officials from my own Department and the Department of Justice. It is a weighty and technical piece of legislation. It is one that it is great to see that it is supported strongly around the House. I think we all agree it is going to make a big difference to organ donation, and it is also going to make a big difference to post mortems and the other aspects contained within the Bill. I thank everyone for the very considerable work that has gone into getting us where we are this evening.

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