Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

In respect of some of the arguments made by Senators Darragh O'Brien and Leyden that what we are really discussing today is whether the Seanad should scrutinise European legislation, I remind them that the motion before us is that Seanad Éireann resolves that Statutory Instrument No. 325 of 2012 (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012 be annulled. Very good arguments have been put forward by Senators Gilroy and Colm Burke as to why this should not be so. I remind the House that the argument is not about the scrutiny of EU legislation and that Members of the House who sat through the debate in this House on the abolition of Seanad Éireann heard very many good arguments as to why the Seanad should scrutinise EU legislation. Senator Cummins is to be congratulated on bringing MEPs into this House on many occasions this year. There has been very robust discourse with those MEPs on EU matters. It is important that we start talking about what we are here to discuss, which is the annulment of the statutory instrument before us and not the scrutinising of EU legislation.

It is important to remember, as has been pointed out, that there are very good reasons we should not do this. The statutory instrument before us puts in place a framework for the authorisation and procurement of transplantation centres, traceability systems, a framework whereby organs may be shared with the UK and other EU countries, including the quality and safety requirements for such a transfer, a reporting system in the case of adverse events and a requirement for due diligence, and consent requirement for donations. The directive deals with consent requirements and these regulations are required by EU law, but they do not introduce an opt-out system. The programme for Government is committed to reviewing an opt-out system but it is not a consideration before us in today's debate.

I have listened to Senator Daly in the media a number of times in the last week, speaking about the creation of a new co-ordinating body. I strongly argue that we have good systems in place and that the Irish Medicines Board has capably presided over all organ donations in Ireland since 2005. In that time there have been 1,835 successful transplants. Like Senator Gilroy, I would not like to see any unintended consequences arising as a result of this debate that would reduce confidence in the Irish organ donation system.

All organ donations are co-ordinated by the organ procurement office at Beaumont Hospital, and have been since 1986. It contacts transplant centres and finds match recipients. The co-ordinator travels with the transplant teams and meets the donor family to answer questions, ensure the family consents to the donation and assess whether the organs are suitable to be transplanted. Therefore there is already a centralised authority to authorise organ donations. It would be a mistake to try to undo a system which is tried and tested and where participants are experienced in the field, and attempt to come up with a new body. At best this would cost a significant amount of money to do a job that is already being done, and at worst it might undo some of the good work that is already in place. Errors can occur when starting from scratch. The Minister has stated he is willing to review the current system if there is an anticipated increase in organ donations when we move potentially to an opt-out system.

This EU directive was introduced to bring clarity to the law surrounding organ donations and particularly to facilitate transfer of organs between EU countries, allowing organs to go where they are needed. Bureaucracy should not and must not be a barrier to saving lives. However, this directive creates a good foundation for organ transplant systems and can be built on later in an Irish context, as the Minister has said. There will be planned improvements in the system. I understand that there are important discussions to be had in the future, particularly surrounding consent. In other jurisdictions the issue of the opt-out of organ donations has been a very traumatic debate, most recently in Wales. I am looking forward to that debate in the Irish context. As things stand, there is no good reason to annul this instrument. The Opposition has made no good argument giving any good reason it should be annulled. We are in danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Worse, given the current debate on the abolition of the Seanad, we are in danger of looking like we are throwing the toys out of the pram. I ask the Opposition to take that into account and withdraw this motion.