Feargal Quinn (Independent)

Senator O'Sullivan has referred to the fact that the Seanad received positive news this week because of his success last week. I have some positive news to relay also. On 19 May the Leader promised that I could introduce the Construction Contracts Bill today. He has kept his word and Committee Stage of the Bill will be taken today. This is very different from the situation in October two years ago when I introduced a Bill dealing with organ donation and the giving of presumed consent. That Bill was not put to a vote on Second Stage because the Minister said she would like to engage in public consultation on the issues involved. Some of the figures published this week by the Irish Kidney Association show that, once again, Spain is way ahead of other countries and just ahead of Portugal in terms of the number of organ donors per one million of the population at approximately 35. Ireland is in tenth place. What is important in this regard is not the rate of organ donation, but the number of transplants that take place following organ donations. In that context, Ireland is in 16th place. This means that some lives are lost because we have not reached a high enough level of transplants following organ donations. It is possible to do something about this. The opt-out system, the system proposed in the presumed consent Bill, would be worth accepting. The Minister said she would give serious consideration to it but wanted to engage in public consultation. I do not believe we need to engage in such consultation for two years; it could be done more rapidly. As lives are being lost, we could and should move more quickly on the issue. I, therefore, urge the Leader to press the Minister to move on it straightaway.