Vol. 413 No. 7
33 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Health if she will ensure that a donor system is set up in Ireland for people waiting for heart, lung and kidney transplants in view of the considerable delay being experienced by patients awaiting transplants at present; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The multi-organ donor card system in place encourages people to donate their organs after their death. The continued success of any transplant programme depends on the availability of organs. Waiting times for organ transplantation vary for recipients depending on the availability of donor organs and also on their suitability for individual patients. The matching of a donor organ to a potential recipient involves complex testing depending on the organ involved. Harvesting of organs is co-ordinated through the renal transplantation unit at Beaumont Hospital.
Ireland is also associated with the United Kingdom Transplant Support Service which maintains a computerised waiting list of patients in the United Kingdom and Ireland requiring an organ transplant.
With regard to kidney transplantation, there were 137 transplants performed in Beaumont Hospital in 1990, which compares favourably to the number of such transplants in other countries. Eighty per cent of Irish patients requiring kidney transplantations are operated on within two years. The waiting list for kidney transplantation in Ireland also compares favourably with other European countries.
There is also a highly successful heart transplant programme at the National Cardiac Centre in the Mater Hospital. A total of 56 heart transplant operations have taken place in the Mater Hospital since 1985.
It is generally accepted that the transplantation of lungs is in the early stages of development compared to other organ transplantation. There is no lung transplantation programme in this country and patients who require lung transplants are referred abroad to suitable centres for treatment, as are patients who require heart/lung transplantation. Seven patients were referred abroad for these procedures in 1990. My Department are at present awaiting a formal proposal from a number of clinicians concerning the feasibility of establishing a heart/lung transplantation programme in this country.
