- Jane McCormack
- BBC News Northern Ireland Political Correspondent
Northern Ireland ministers have applied renewed pressure on Stormont parties to elect a Speaker of Parliament in order to pass the stalled Opt-Out Organ Donation Bill.
BBC News NI has seen the letter from Chris Heaton-Harris, in which he reserves the right for Westminster to resolve the issue.
The legislation has been put on hold due to the impasse at Stormont.
It was supposed to take effect this spring.
The bill was passed by Parliament in February 2022, but secondary legislation is needed to stipulate which organs and tissues will be subject to the opt-out system.
Without it the system will not come into effect.
Stormont has been unable to form a coalition government for 12 months due to a boycott by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The group's leader, Sir Geoffrey Donaldson, met on Friday with the parents of Daitha McGovern, who have been campaigning for changes to the law on organ donation.
However, the latest administrative organisation bill is thought to be too narrow in scope to allow lawmakers to table amendments to the organ donation law.
Image source, Liam McBurney/PA
In a letter to Stormont leaders on Thursday, Ms Heaton-Harris said that if the parties convened Parliament “this legislation could be put into place within days”.
“This requires only MLAs [assembly members] “We will work together to select a speaker, not necessarily a first and deputy first minister,” he added.
He said once the speaker is in place, state lawmakers can approve any secondary legislation that is needed.
Heaton-Harris said all of this could happen at once.
“This is the quickest and most direct path forward to advance this important legislation which Mr Dysa and his family have campaigned so hard for. As you know, introducing major legislation through the UK Parliament can be a long and difficult process,” he added.
Heaton-Harris is also believed to have told Daisa's parents about the incident.
Daita and his parents flew to the UK earlier this week for heart surgery at a hospital in Newcastle.
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Sinn Féin launched a recall petition to allow for the election of a Speaker of Parliament who would enable the implementation of the Daithi Act.
The petition needs signatures of 30 MLAs to be successful.
The party's deputy leader, Michelle O'Neill, said the law must be enforced.
“Let's elect a speaker and finalize this legislation,” she added.
“I think little Daisa deserves that, and I think everyone who's waiting for an organ transplant deserves that.”
DUP's Paul Givan told BBC Northern Ireland's The View that the party was meeting on Monday morning to “take a position on what approach we will take” on the speaker election.
Earlier, Gordon Lyons, the party's MP, said there was no reason why changes could not be made to the Executive Body Bill.
“This has been done in the past on issues such as abortion and victim pensions,” he added.
“Now there is a vehicle that can do that, and it should be done.”
Stormont's parties have failed to elect a new parliament speaker five times since last May's election.
Without the Chair, no other business can be carried out.
The DUP has insisted it will not support the election of a speaker until changes are made to the NI Protocol, which the party could support.
