Kidney be happier to welcome opt-out organ donor system
New laws will work alongside families
NEW laws that will herald an optout organ donation system are to be introduced after a landmark moment in the Oireachtas.
The legislation yesterday reached the Seanad and means everyone automatically becomes an organ donor unless they opt out.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly announced plans last summer for the country to move from an opt-in system for organ donation to an opt-out system.
The Human Tissue Bill 2022 allows for organ donation after a person dies, unless the deceased has previously opted out.
Organ donations, which numbered 250 in 2022, have been impacted in Ireland since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Minister Donnelly, whose department has pledged an extra €1.6million to boost transplants this year, expressed his belief yesterday that the new system will result in an increase in organ donations.
He said: “It’s a really important step. It’s been a long time coming. For nearly 15 years people have been talking about this legislation.
“The passage of this Bill is a meaningful moment for healthcare in Ireland.
“This Bill enshrines respect. Respect for the generosity of donors and their families, and respect for the dignity of the deceased.
“Now we turn our attention to the important business of commencing the legislation and increasing opportunities for people waiting for an organ donation.”
RESPECTFUL
Despite the new system setting out an opt-out policy, health chiefs have vowed that discussions will still be held with designated family members before a loved one’s organs are removed for transplant.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Families will continue to be consulted as part of a safe and respectful organ donation process.”
Irish Kidney Association spokesperson Colin White said: “It’s quite a nuanced change.
“We’re changing from the family giving consent for organ donation to the family being asked for assent.
“So the family will be asked if there is any reason why their loved one would not want to be an organ donor.”
The transplant waiting list currently exceeds 600.
Information on an opt-out register has yet to be published.
The first transin Ireland, a kidney transplant, took place at the old St Vincent’s Hospital in St Stephen’s Green in Dublin over 60 years ago.
Ted Tobin, a talented flautist from Crumlin in Dublin, was the 21-yearold recipient on December 19, 1963. However, he died due to complications just two months later.
His niece, Fiona O’donovan, said last December: “Ted is an unsung hero who helped advance medical knowledge and inspired hope in many patients with end stage renal failure, including myself, and members of my family who ultimately followed in his footsteps.” The new Bill also concerns issues such as regulating the retention, storage and use of organs after a postmortem examination.
It amends the Coroners Acts to introduce provisions for “communication and information sharing” with families who have had a deceased loved one undergo a postmortem.
Its wording states the Bill is entitled an Act to “provide for the removal, donation and use of organs and tissues and cells from deceased and living persons for the purposes of transplantation”.
It adds: “And to make provision for the establishment and maintenance of a register in respect of certain organs whereby persons, who do not wish to donate certain organs after death, may register objection to donation of such organs.
“[Also] to provide for the establishplant ment of a panel of persons to oversee certain proposed donations in respect of certain persons.
“[And] to make provision for the carrying out of post-mortems in hospital settings and the regulation of such activity; to make provision for the donation by living persons of their bodies after death for the purposes of anatomical examination or public display; [and] to provide for the establishment of a licensing system in respect of persons undertaking anatomical examinations or public display activities.”
The new Bill amends legislation such as the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 and the Coroners Act 1962.
After passing through the Oireachtas, it will be sent to President Michael D Higgins to be signed into law.