Concern over dialysis facilities
The Republic is unique in having more transplanted kidney patients than people receiving dialysis treatment, the chairman of the Irish Donor Network has said.
However, Mr Mark Murphy, who is also chief executive of the Irish Kidney Association (IKA), expressed concern that hospital facilities will be unable to cope with the changing trends toward dialysis.
Speaking on the eve of European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation, which is marked today, Mr Murphy said there were 89 organ donors last year which made a total of 220 transplant operations possible.
"We hope this trend will grow," he commented.
Figures released by the IKA show an increase of nine in the number of organ donors between 2001 and 2002. There were 65 adult and 15 child donors last year. 149 kidneys and 63 livers were retrieved from donors. Of 29 hearts made available for transplantation, 13 were exported for use in patients abroad.
The Republic is part of a network of countries which make organs available to one other.
This is to facilitate the best matching of donor and recipient which in turn improves patient outcome. International figures for organ donors show the Republic is close to the top of the European league with a rate of 18.2 donations per million population in 2001.