Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): Members, we will now formally consider the draft of the Committee report on the Organ and Tissue Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill. Agreement will be sought on each section of the report. A draft of the report is contained in members' packs. Do any members wish to declare any interests? No. Thank you. Members, I will start to go through the sections individually, and we can then proceed with final agreement on this report.

First, I refer members to the title page, the table of contents, the pages on Committee powers and membership and the list of abbreviations and acronyms. Are members content with this section as drafted?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): I refer members to the executive summary. Are members content with this section as drafted?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): I refer members to the parts of the report entitled "Introduction" and "Committee Approach". Are members content with this section as drafted?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): I refer members to the part of the report entitled "Consideration of the Bill". Are members content with this section as drafted?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): I refer members to the part of the report entitled, "Clause by Clause consideration of the Bill". Are members content with this section as drafted?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): I refer members to the appendices. Are members content with this section as drafted?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): Are members content that the minutes from this meeting are approved by the Chair so that they can be included as part of the report?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): Are members content for the Committee staff to make any necessary formatting changes to the report in advance of electronic publication?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): Is the Committee for Health content for the report on the Organ and Tissue Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill to be published?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): Are members in agreement that we should issue a link to the report to the organisations that provided evidence to the Committee and to the Department?

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): Thank you, members. I thank each and every one of you very much for your diligent approach to the Bill and to the important matter of organ and tissue donation. Pam and I, as Deputy Chair and Chair of the Committee, met some of the people involved in the campaigning on the issue, such as the MacGabhann family, namely young Dáithí and his mum and dad, Seph and Máirtín.

It is appropriate to acknowledge the work that was done by Jo-Anne —. Her name escapes me at the minute, but I know that she was a UUP MLA.

Ms Bradshaw: Dobson.

The Chairperson (Mr Gildernew): Dobson; thank you. Yes, I acknowledge her work and the work of many others who have campaigned on the issue. The Bill has been a significant step for this Committee and, more importantly, for the people who require an organ donation now or those who will require one in the future. Considering the Bill has been a significant piece of work for the Committee, and I want to acknowledge that.

I also want to acknowledge specifically the Committee staff for all the work that they have done on the Bill. They kept us all informed and provided information in a way that was very accessible to us and very useable, so I thank the Committee Clerk and all his staff.