Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. One of the points he made when he went off script was that this manifestly merits discussion and debate in the Oireachtas, and it does. That is our point. We have had, in the main, a reasoned and constructive debate where we have teased out the issues involved, and that is useful. Regardless of what some may think, this was not a stunt. It has nothing to do with the referendum on the Seanad. It has to do with how we do our business.

Staying specifically with this statutory instrument, this is the EU directive that the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs apparently scrutinised. The committee took the advice of the Department of Health at the time and it was agreed on the nod by the committee. It was not gone through line by line. The statutory instrument, a much more comprehensive document, was signed by the Minister, Deputy Reilly, on 27 August 2012 without consulting the Minister of State's predecessor, the Dáil, the Seanad or the health committee.

The Minister of State said he accepts the current infrastructure for organ donation and transplantation can be improved, a point on which we all agree. It is most unfortunate that the Minister with ultimate responsibility, Deputy James Reilly, did not come into the House today to take queries from Members who are genuinely concerned about this issue. As I said earlier, I have no difficulty with the EU directive but there is many a change between cup and lip. Which member states requested that transplantation bodies be regionalised? The United Kingdom did so because it is made up of England, Wales, Scotland and, to some, Northern Ireland.