Ulster Unionist MLA Jo-Anne Dobson has questioned whether the Health Minister Jim Wells is committed to bringing in a life-saving organ donation opt-out system for Northern Ireland.  Upper Bann MLA Mrs Dobson is progressing a family consent Private Members Bill at Stormont.

Speaking on Organ Donation Discussion Day the Ulster Unionist Party’s Health Spokesperson said:

“I fully support the awareness campaigns which are being held at the moment, especially the 11 December ‘Tell Your Loved Ones’ campaign backed by local charities and spearheaded by Aiken PR, Opt for Life, the Public Health Agency, British Heart Foundation NI and the British Medical Association.

“The facts on organ donation in Northern Ireland are all too clear – fifteen local people die each year waiting on a transplant.  That is why no one, least of all our Health Minister, should be content to live with the status quo. 

“There is overwhelming public support for a change in local organ donation laws, and in the consultation which I undertook for my Bill, more than 80% of the 1,300 respondents said they would support a new ‘opt-out’ system. 

“However, in the Assembly recently I was disappointed when the new Health Minister Jim Wells, speaking on organ donation, said he hoped that ‘there is no need for any further legislation.’  This will have disappointed many given that a second Department of Health public consultation is currently underway and I would not like to think that its findings were being pre-judged by the new Minister.

“As the mother of a transplant patient I am one of the countless people across Northern Ireland who knows first-hand how the selfless gift of life can transform a family – someone’s ultimate gift gave me back my son Mark, who had a successful kidney transplant in 2009.”

“The family consent system which I am progressing has the personal support of the First and deputy First Ministers.  The least we can expect from the Health Minister is that he will take decisive action and direct his officials to support my Bill which commands overwhelming public support and will save local lives.

“I and my colleague in the Ulster Unionist Party fully support the 11 December ‘Tell Your Loved Ones’ campaign and urge families across Northern Ireland to sit down with their loved ones today and discuss their wishes on organ donation.”