Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann resolves that Statutory Instrument No. 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012 be annulled.

On 27 August 2012, the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, signed this EU directive into law without any consultation with the Seanad, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children or the Dáil. Over the past two years, many members of Government and Opposition parties and those of none in this House have rightly called for a greater degree of scrutiny of EU directives and statutory instruments. Unfortunately, that has not happened and we have not had the degree of scrutiny of EU directives, in particular this one, which is required before legislation becomes law. I commend my colleague, Senator Mark Daly, on arranging this sitting.

This is not necessarily about what is in this directive but about what the Government is choosing not to do with it, and I will outline those points shortly. Most of our citizens would expect that Oireachtas Members would not simply pass legislation on the nod. That applies not only to this Government but to successive Governments which have failed miserably to scrutinise EU directives before they become law. The issue over the past two to three weeks has been whether people believe it is necessary for us to have a proper public discussion on organ donation and transplantation and the structures under which the State and the health service operate. Interest groups, including the Irish Donor Network and the Irish Kidney Association, have welcomed the fact a proper focus has been brought to bear on this whole area of organ transplantation.

The statutory instrument itself, dated 7 July 2010, is on standards of quality and safety of human organs intended for transplant. We are in agreement with most of what is in it. This is not specifically about the area of consent, opt-ins or opt-outs. A glaring omission from this legislation and the reason we want to have a constructive debate today is the creation of a national transplant authority. I ask Members to read paragraph 24 of the directive carefully. It states: "As emphasised by the Recommendation Rec(2006)15 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Member States on the background, functions and responsibilities of a National Transplant Organisation (NTO), it is preferable to have a single non-profit making body which is officially recognised with overall responsibility for donation, allocation, traceability and accountability." The Government does not propose to do that.

What we have currently is an organ donation and transplant office. How well resourced is this office? The organ donation and transplant office in the Republic of Ireland has one full-time staff member, Dr. Jim Egan, and one sixth of a principal officer.

Whatever regulations one wants to bring in to implement what this directive states, that is not being resourced and the creation of a national transplant authority has not happened. There is no organised, dedicated specific transplant co-ordinator in each of our main hospitals. The structure is not in place. That is the reason this debate today affords an opportunity for the Minister and the Minister of State at the Department of Health to answer the questions. The Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly had signed the directive into law without any further debate, the draft of the directive he signed was not circulated to anyone, be it the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, the Dáil, the Seanad or the interested groups, be it the Irish Donor Network and others prior to him signing this directive. Let me remind people that we called for a recall of the Seanad last year to deal with this specific issue - well in advance of the proposed referendum on the abolition of the Seanad. This is not about that referendum. We tabled an amendment to the Order of Business which was defeated 27:18 to have this discussed. Time is running out because within the course of the next two weeks, this becomes law.

I wish to put a number of questions to the Minister of State directly. The EU organ transplant expert, Dr. Rafael Matesanz who has advised on best practice has been exceptionally critical of how governments are dealing with this directive and the fact that they are not creating a single body with responsibility for the area of organ donation. My colleagues will give examples of best practice in Europe. I put it to the Minister of State, Deputy White and to the Minister for Health and his officials that what is being proposed is simply a box ticking exercise. It would have been worse than that, if the Seanad had not been recalled to debate it. In the past two weeks, we have seen the Government now talking about fully funding and staffing the organ donation and transplant office. I welcome that. We cannot have an organ donation and transplant office that has one doctor and the equivalent of one sixth of a staff member. Let me put it to my colleagues that if this debate had not happened here today and if the topic of this debate had not received the coverage in the previous two weeks we would not have seen Government move to fully resource this office. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy White, to state how many staff members he intends to allocate to the national organ donation and transplant office and when the staff will be in place? Second, other legislation coming down the track, such as the human tissue Bill, was listed on the Government schedule, but no date had been given for it. Now because of this debate today in advance of Government preparations to respond to the recall of the Seanad, the Government is talking about dealing with the human tissue Bill in the next session. That is very welcome. Surely the role of Senators is to scrutinise legislation and to hold Government to account on important issue, such as this and to propose improvements and options to what has been proposed by Government, instead of simply allowing an EU directive to be transposed into national law without discussion or debate. Let me repeat that has been a failing of successive governments and not just this Government. A Government that talks about reforming the way we do business should take into account that more than 90% of our laws are driven by both directives and statutory instruments signed by Ministers that have not been debated in the Oireachtas. That is not something we can countenance, especially on this issue. I wish to put the following questions directly to the Minister of State, Deputy White. Why did the Government not publish the draft directive prior to the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly signing it? Why was it not circulated to interested parties and other stakeholders? Why has the Government decided to set aside paragraph 24 of that directive by not creating a national transplant organisation with responsibility for transplant and organ donation? That is what has happened in countries with best practice such as Spain, which has been the most successful in achieving organ donation rates, and Croatia.

I would also like to ask the Minister of State about the announcement made in advance of this debate to the effect that the Government is now seeking to staff the organ donation and transplant office. How many members of staff members does the Government propose to put into that office? How soon will it be set up? When will it have the necessary resources to deal with people on transplant waiting lists and to co-ordinate transplants? Why has the Government not deemed it necessary to identify and appoint specific transplant co-ordinators in each of our major hospitals?

Many aspects of this directive are positive. One could disagree with very little of it. Like my colleagues, who will outline their concerns later in this debate, I disagree with the Government's decision to set aside the most important point in all of this without any consultation. I will conclude by putting this point directly to the Leader of the House. Over the last two and a half years, with his agreement and the agreement of most Senators, this House has sought to be given the ability to play a part in the scrutiny of EU directives. We have not been given the resources to do that, however. I ask for a commitment from the Leader to set aside specific time for debates on directives like this one, in advance of their being signed into Irish law, so that it will not be necessary to recall the Seanad from future recesses.