Organ Donation
Seanad Éireann — 2022-02-01
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Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel

I thank the Minister of State for her response and her support. The most important line in her response is "Signing up to the opt-out register will be a definitive expression of the person’s wish to not become an organ donor after death." This means that the current confusion will be gone. One organ donor can save eight lines. It is phenomenal.
The Minister of State gave an example of the case in her own county. Members may also have seen video footage of other families who have met the individuals who received organs donated from their loved ones. Each donation has saved the life of an individual. There is a sense of pride and amazement among the family when they hear the heartbeat of their loved one in the other person's body, or when they understand that a young child may be alive and living a normal life because of the contribution made by their loved one.
As the Minister of State said, 86% of people in Spain are in favour of organ donation and I think the people of Ireland would be the same once we introduced the provision. The quicker we do it, the more lives we save and the more people who will be proud of the things they have done when they are deceased.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2022-02-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-02-01