Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Many of us grew up hearing about people needing organ donation. It is something I have heard an awful lot about. I have had very young friends whose lives have been transformed and changed because of organ donation. They are able to live full lives into adulthood whereas, even a decade before, they would not have been able to do that. There is a real opportunity here now. I hope many more lives will be saved. Let us look at the success of the organ donation card campaign, which arguably did not have an enormous budget yet a huge number of people know about it. The opportunity for lives to be changed as a result of this will be immense. It is a great day to see something like this happen. There will be a public awareness campaign for people for whom this will not be an option they want to avail of and for others as well. This may give comfort to people who are on waiting lists, looking forward and wondering what their lives will look like. It is a great day and it is great for the Minister to be able to stand over this legislation. It is a positive story to come out of Leinster House today. Well done to the Minister for getting this through.