Plans for ‘soft opt-out’ organ donation system to go to Cabinet by end of the month

Plans to change organ donation to a “soft opt-out” system are to be considered by Cabinet by the end of the month.

The new legislation would bring in a system of “deemed” or presumed consent to organ donation after a person dies unless they had previously registered their desire not to be an organ donor.

There will still be discussion with designated family members before the removal of organs for transplant.

Groups representing people on transplant lists have long been calling for a change to the system in the hope that it will result in an increase in organ donation.

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The soft opt-out will change the current system where a person has to opt-in to donation by holding a donor card or having their wishes noted on their driving licence.

The Irish Times understands that the legislation – which has been in the works and delayed several times since 2016 – is expected to be brought to Cabinet by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly within the next two weeks.

The Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination, and Public Display) Bill 2022 also includes an overhaul of Ireland’s system for carrying out postmortem examinations.

[ Organ donation: ‘She’s like a different child. Sofia has her childhood back’ ]

The legislation will have to be approved by Cabinet and passed by the Oireachtas before it is enacted.

It puts in place arrangements in relation to the donation of bodies to anatomy schools and provisions for the setting of standards to be met in the practice of anatomy.

And it will legislate for the governance of the public display of bodies in Ireland including consent arrangements required for the donation of a body for this purpose.

It provides for consent procedures and conditions on the removal, donation and use of organs such as kidneys and tissue such as bone marrow from both the deceased and living for transplants.

The legislation also has guidelines for non-directed altruistic donation – where a person donates a kidney to someone they do not already know. This will remove the need for Irish citizens to travel to the United Kingdom if they wish to donate in this way.

[ ‘To improve organ donation rates, we need to look at every death in ICUs and EDs’ ]

The Bill also includes amendments to the Coroners Acts 1962-2020 to introduce an aligned standard of practice across the medical and Coroner’s Courts systems.

It is understood the Bill is not a direct response to organ retention controversies relating to the infants’ organs being removed without the knowledge of bereaved parents. However, it does include measures relevant to issues highlighted in such cases.

It would implement recommendations of the 2006 Madden Report on Postmortem Practices and Procedures relating to consent provisions for hospital postmortems and provisions on the retention, storage, use and disposal of organs and tissue from deceased people following a hospital postmortem.