Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has proven himself yet again to be a progressive and reforming Minister for Health. I thank him for that. He is absolutely committed to the prioritisation of drafting this Bill in order to provide a national legislative framework for organ donation and transplant services in Ireland for the very first time. In addition to addressing organ donation and transplants, the Bill will bring the State in line with international best practice which is obviously also very important in the governance of activities relating to human tissue. We should always remember and acknowledge that organ donation is a very precious gift. It is quite possibly the most precious of gifts. It saves lives and what could be more important? I know our aim here is to help to increase the donor pool in Ireland while always fully respecting the wishes of individuals and their families. I know that the approach the Minister has chosen within the Bill is strongly endorsed by many of our leading NGOs and charities which have campaigned for such a system for many years.

Fianna Fáil has always believed in the delivery of fundamental public health services to the highest standard through investment, innovation and reform. This Bill absolutely fits within this framework. It is very important landmark legislation and includes provisions relating to not just organ donation and transplantation but also post-mortem practices and procedures, and the examination and public display of bodies after death.

This human tissue Bill aims to increase organ donation and transplantation in Ireland through the introduction of new measures, including an opt-out system for consent and pathways for living donation by adults including non-directed altruistic donation. It is important to stress that element of choice is there through opting out. Currently, as we know, the decision of organ donation in respect of a deceased person rests entirely with the next-of-kin, including where the deceased person held an organ donor card or had indicated their wish to be an organ donor on their driving licence. Under this new opt-out system, all adults in Ireland will be considered to have agreed to be an organ donor when they die unless they have recorded a decision not to donate in an opt-out register, which obviously needs to be resourced and kept up to date, or indeed if they are one of the identified excluded groups.

This is often referred to as "deemed consent" and will apply to the donation of the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and pancreas. A separate consent process will be undertaken for the donation of other organs and for tissue and cells from deceased donors. Crucially, the Bill will embed in law the concept that consent where appropriate is the defining principle around these sensitive areas and will establish a regulatory framework for the conduct of these activities. I thank the Minister for his sterling work on the Bill. I look forward to its passage into legislation. There is no doubt that this will help save many lives in the years to come.