Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not aware of the HSE board approval requirement. It is a clinical service and the HSE board agrees the national service plan. Any capital investment above €10,000 has to go to the board, but that is not what this is, so I am not sure what approval is being referred to.

I join the Deputy's acknowledgement of the Irish Kidney Association and many other organisations such as the Irish Heart Foundation.

We had a lovely milestone yesterday. The President signed the Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Act 2022 into law, which was lovely to see. It will make a huge difference. We will have a country where people will have a default opt-out of organ donation. Hundreds of families and individuals, including a friend of mine, are waiting for organ donation. We are investing further in the area, which I announced last week. The human tissue Act will make a big difference and I hope we can bring this matter from strength to strength so the people we are talking about who are on dialysis can get what they ultimately need, which is a healthy kidney.

See this speech in context