Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 678: To ask the Minister for Health if consideration will be given, in the context of the introduction of a new driving licence format, to altering the current organ donation policy from opt in to opt out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32430/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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A new credit card style driving licence must be introduced in Ireland by 2013 to comply with EU legislation. Officials from my Department are in discussion with the Road Safety Authority with a view to including a numeric code on the new licence to denote a person's wish to donate their organs after death.

My Department is currently advancing legislative proposals for a Human Tissue Bill which will address the giving of consent for the removal, retention, storage, use and disposal of organs and tissues from deceased persons in the context of post-mortems, transplantation, research, or anatomical examination. The proposals also addresses consent for the use of organs and tissues removed from a living person for transplantation and/or research. The Programme for Government commits to changing the system of consent for organ donation to an opt-out system from the current opt-in system in order to improve the availability of organs for patients in need of transplantation. The logistics of this change will require detailed consideration and my Department will be consulting further on how best to implement it in the context of developing the Bill.