Public Health Minister Maureen Watt says people have to be in the intensive care unit before donations discussions can be undertaken and it requires the whole hospital approach to prepare for this.

Professor John Forsythe the Lead Clinician for Organ Donation and Transplantation in Scotland says the difference between our transplantation rate and Spain's is "quite huge".  

Gareth Brown from the Scottish government says the budget for marketing did halve due to a change in approach. 

Mr Brown says the cut was not just a cut, but a move from mailing to online campaign.  

One of the world's leading transplant experts has said Wales will need to do more than change the law to increase organ donations.

Dr Rafael Matesanz is medical director of the Organizacion Nacional de Trasplantes in Madrid.

He said an "open discussion" among families and systems being geared up in hospital intensive care were more important factors.

Spain has the highest organ donation rate - 36 donors per million people - compared to just under 20 in the UK and 23.1 in Wales.

Health Committee convener Duncan McNeil says the budget for marketing organ donations has been cut. 

Mr McNeil also says people waiting for a transplant are not willing to wait to see what happens in Wales.  

Professor John Forsythe the Lead Clinician for Organ Donation and Transplantation in Scotland says there is not always a read across from a register to organ donation numbers. 

Professor Forsythe says Spain has run a national campaign. 

 He says the donor numbers have improved across the UK, but we are still far behind Spain.

Wales has become the first nation in the UK to introduce a "revolutionary" new system to increase the number of organ donors.

From Tuesday, adults will be regarded as having consented to organ donation unless they have opted out.

More than one million people - 34% of the population - have registered to opt in already and 86,000 have opted out.

Health Minister Mark Drakeford called it a "ground-breaking step which will save lives".

He paid tribute to the cross-party support for the change in the law, which aims to increase the number of donors by 25%.

Professor John Forsythe the Lead Clinician for Organ Donation and Transplantation in Scotland expresses concerns about the impact the legislation might have. 

Professor John Forsythe the Lead Clinician for Organ Donation and Transplantation in Scotland says on his visit to Spain it was not the soft opt-out system that was highlighted, rather having the correct infrastructure in place. 

Professor Forsythe calls for the continuation of education packs being in every secondary school in Scotland. 

He says: "We have made a lot of headway in the last number of years but there is a lot more to do." 

A whole hospital approach is necessary, says the transplant surgeon.

Public Health Minister Maureen Watt says the introduction of AIPs and proxies, the system will be made more complicated. 

Mr Robertson asks if the bill could be amended in an effort to raise the organ donation rate.

Ms Watt says: "We don't believe the bill could be satisfactorily amended." 

SNP MSP Dennis Robertson asks why the evidence for a soft opt-out does not stack up. 

Public Health Minister Maureen Watt says having an opt-out system on its own does not necessarily mean there will be higher rates of donation and higher rates of transplant.

Ms Watt says it is important to have the infrastructure in place for transplantation which is as important as the opt-out system itself.  

Public Health Minister Maureen Watt says the government has "very real concerns about the harm that may be done if this bill passes". 

In Scotland in 2007/8 the number of deceased donors was 54, the latest 2014/15 number is 98, an increase of 82% that is well ahead of the target 50% increase over five years set by the Organ Donation Taskforce. 

Of all the UK administrations, Scotland also currently has the highest percentage of its population on the Organ Donation Register, at 41%. Anyone from age 12 years can register, as determined by the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006. 

In Scotland in 2014/153 there were: 

• 98 deceased donors and 81 living donors 
• 300 deceased donor transplants and 78 living donor transplants
• 543 people on the active transplant waiting list at the end of the year, a reduction of 21% from 2007/8

There will be a ministerial statement on the Forth Road Bridge today at 2.20pm. 

The Scottish government commends the aim of the legislation, but is not in a position to support it. 

It is not convinced that the bill would lead to an increase in the number of organs and tissues being made available for transplant. 

It has significant concerns about proxies; the Authorised Investigating Person and the legislation's legal implications. 

It has concerns that the financial cost to Scottish Ministers and the NHS of introducing and maintaining the bill's measures have not been fully reflected.

Public Health Minister Maureen Watt begins by saying the reality is the international evidence and experience is not clear on the opt-out system. 

This is why the government will wait to see what happens in Wales, where a soft opt-out was introduced on 1 December, she says. 

Ms Watt says the vast majority of witnesses have expressed significant concerns about measures in the bill. 

Health Committee convener Duncan McNeil introduces Public Health Minister Maureen Watt, Gareth Brown from the Scottish government and Professor John Forsythe, the Lead Clinician for Organ Donation and Transplantation in Scotland.

• There was an 8% fall in the number of deceased donors in Scotland to 98 
• The number of donors after brain death increased by 3% to 64, while the number of donors after circulatory death fell by 23% to 34 
• The number of living donors fell by 5% to 81, accounting for almost half of the total number of organ donors 
• The number of patients transplanted in Scotland whose lives were saved or improved by an organ transplant fell by 9% to 360 

Image source, SPL

• 251 patients transplanted in Scotland had their sight restored through a cornea transplant, representing a fall of 3% 
• NHS Grampian has achieved a five-fold increase in deceased donors over the past four years, from three in 2010/11 to 15 in 2014/15. 
• But the number of patients successfully receiving organ transplants in Scotland fell by by 9% to 360. 

Labour's Anne McTaggart published plans to introduce a "soft opt-out" system for organ donation in Scotland in the Summer. 

Ms McTaggart has support from MSPs of all parties for her bill. 

The current "opt-in" system requires a proactive choice by an individual to register to become an organ donor on their death. 

The Scottish government said it would examine the bill to see if a "convincing case" could be made for a move to an opt-out system. 

The new legislation would mean people would have to actively opt out or else their name would be added to the NHS Organ Donation Register. 

Under the terms of the "soft opt-out" system, families of deceased patients would be given a say on donation if they could confirm their relative had made an unrecorded objection during their lifetime.

MSPs will take evidence on the Transplantation (Authorisation of Removal of Organs etc.) (Scotland) Bill., external

The committee will begin by questioning Public Health Minister Maureen Watt, Gareth Brown from the Scottish government and Professor John Forsythe, the Lead Clinician for Organ Donation and Transplantation in Scotland. 

MSPs will then quiz the author of the bill, Labour MSP Anne McTaggart and Diane Barr from the Non-Government Bills Unit and Lousie Miller from the Office of the Solicitor to the Scottish Parliament.