'No specific date' set to enact organ donation law

The opt-out system means residents would automatically be registered as donors

"No specific date" has been set for opt-out organ donation laws to be implemented, a minister has said.

The Human Tissue and Organ Donation Act 2021 was given Royal Assent in July of the same year but it has not yet been implemented.

Cabinet Office Minister Kate Lord-Brennan gave an update to members of the House of Keys earlier.

She said: "I am unable to provide honourable members with a specific date for full implementation of this complex legislation."

When introduced, the new laws will mean anyone over 18 on the Isle of Man would be presumed to have given consent to donating their organs unless they had specifically chosen not to do so.

The act was introduced as a private members bill by former Garff MHK Martyn Perkins.

It is also known as Daniel's Law, in memory of 15-year-old Daniel Boyde, whose organs were donated following his death in a car crash in 2007.

'So little progress'

Ms Lord-Brennan said "extensive preparatory work, expert advice and, importantly, a robust regulatory mechanism would need to be developed" before the act could be brought in.

She said "multiple pieces of secondary legislation, codes of practice and guidance" were required.

A regulatory agreement was also required with the UK Human Tissue Authority, she continued.

Several members expressed concern about the lack of an implementation date.

Jason Moorhouse sought more urgency from the minister while Daphne Caine was worried there had been "so little progress" in the three years since the act was given Royal Assent.

But Ms Lord-Brennan said there was "a commitment to progress this work and some of it is already under way".

There was "no barrier" to people wanting to donate organs at the moment, she said.