Stephen Donnelly

The proposed legislation, approved yesterday by Cabinet, will create a presumption that individuals are donors unless they have opted out of the scheme.

Some 600 people in Ireland are on waiting lists for organ donation.

The Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill will establish organ donation as the norm, health minister Stephen Donnelly said.

Philip Watt, chief executive of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, said: “Transplant and donor rates in Ireland have the significant potential to be improved by this legislation, if accompanied by the necessary resources and public awareness supports.”

The bill will also bring in a regulatory regime for post-mortems in hospital settings to be overseen by the Health Information & Quality Authority (Hiqa) and aims to protect the proper disposal of the deceased’s organs.

Mr Donnelly said: “I am delighted to have secured Government approval for the Human Tissue Bill. This is a significant piece of legislation that includes provisions around organ donation and transplantation, post-mortem practice and procedures in hospital settings, anatomical examination, and public display of bodies after death.

“Crucially, the Bill will embed in legislation the idea that consent is the defining principle across all these sensitive areas and will establish a regulatory framework for the conduct of these activities.

“He added: “The Bill also recognises the need to introduce safeguards to protect the integrity of the human body before and after death.

“Crucially, it will implement the recommendations of the Madden Report regarding consent provisions while the independent regulatory regime being established will help to ensure that the new best practice guidelines being developed by the HSE are complied with by every hospital across the country.”