Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

We welcome this Bill and we will be supporting it. This legislation has been delayed several times and I understand it is a highly technical Bill that required time, but it is great the Minister has now brought it here, and the sooner we pass it, the sooner lives can be saved.

This Bill enacts the recommendations that were made in the Madden report in 2005 concerning post mortem practices and procedures. This is very a positive step in ensuring our bodily autonomy and integrity in death and in providing families with some peace of mind with the tragic passing of loved ones. We were devastated by reports in 2021 that found that the organs of 18 deceased babies were sent abroad for incineration without the knowledge or consent of their bereaved parents. This was incredibly traumatic for the families involved. The families of those children have welcomed the passage of this Bill through the Dáil, and we must pass it in the Seanad.

This legislation will ensure such horrific incidents will never happen again. The Bill is also of incredible importance in that it allows us to increase the potential opportunities for lifesaving and life-altering organ donations and transplants. This can provide the families and loved ones of the deceased with a sense of peace on their passing. Crucially, it does this without impinging on our ability to choose what happens to our bodies when we pass and our ability to consent to it, which should be of the utmost importance in matters as sensitive as these.

An opt-out system of organ donation will save lives as long as it is properly resourced. At the same time, the Bill also respects the wishes of those who are not comfortable with donating their organs for various reasons, for example, cultural, religious or the wishes of the deceased’s family members. The Labour Party is glad the Bill provides for a centralised opt-out register. The centralisation of this register is important as it is not realistic to expect every person’s next of kin to know their consent status. Under the current system, we rely on the deceased having an organ donation card or having notified their next of kin that they have an organ donor card. As the Bill outlines, the final say in donation lies with the next of kin, regardless of whether an individual has opted out or not. However, the national register will at least remove some of the burden on those closest to the deceased having to make that decision should they find themselves in this tragic circumstance.

As I said, implementation is important. It is so important, therefore, this register is well resourced, well maintained and that it is a live document. Turnaround times for organ donation and transplants can be extremely short. This means it is critical that information regarding potential donors and their current status can be accessed in the most time-efficient manner possible. We need the Government and the HSE to step up and properly resource this register and ensure it is audited, kept alive and kept up to date regularly. This issue is extremely sensitive, which means information, security and confidentiality must be held to the highest of standards.

Ireland’s organ donation and transplants numbers decreased during Covid-19, but it is great to see these numbers have been increasing again. Last year, 250 organ transplants took place from 119 donors. Those are 250 people who otherwise would probably not be here with us today or who would at least be living in continued poor and diminishing health. They are 250 people who have been given a second chance at life thanks to the parting gift of deceased donors and the altruism and selflessness of living donors. However, as my party colleague Deputy Duncan Smith noted, we can do better. Ireland has a comparatively low rate of donation among our European neighbours. Our rate of donation is 18 per 1 million people, whereas in Britain, for example, the equivalent figure is 25. While implementing an opt-out model of donation is a welcome and progressive move, I hope it will help to improve our rate of donation.

This legislation is not a catch-all solution to increasing the number of available donors in Ireland but it is very welcome. Only through proper resourcing and funding will we be able to properly increase our rate of organ donation.