An average of nearly 300 people a day have added their names to the opt-out register for organ donation since legislation was introduced six months ago that makes every adult a donor unless they expressly withdraw their consent.
A total of 58,482 had opted out of the scheme by December 31, the HSE has revealed, equating to more than 2,000 people every week since the law was effected on June 17.
The Human Tissue Act 2024 was aimed at increasing organ donation rates by presuming that all adults living in Ireland for at least a year consent to donating their organs unless they have formally registered an objection.
However, the rate at which people are opting out has slowed since the legislation came into force.
An initial surge saw almost 40,000 people add their names to the register in the first 10 days at a rate of nearly 155 every hour.
Since then, the rate at which people are opting out by registering online or contacting the HSE by phone has slowed to an average of around 106 per day, according to the latest figures.
A spokeswoman for the HSE said an individual’s next of kin is always consulted before any action is taken in the event of their death, and if their consent is not given, the donation does not proceed.
“Therefore, it is important to emphasise that it is still really important for you to let others know your wishes in relation to organ donation, in the event of your untimely death,” she explained.
The legislation also provides a framework for living donation and allows people who wish to donate a kidney to someone they don’t know to do so in a process called “non-directed altruistic donation”.
“The kidney recipient must be someone on a waiting list who needs it, and the act includes additional protections and safeguards for this,” said the HSE spokeswoman.
Organs covered by the new opt-out system include the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, and kidneys.
Consent is still required from family members for other bodily organs, tissues or cells.
The scheme excludes people under the age of 18, as well as those who have not been resident in Ireland for at least a year, and those who may not have the mental capacity to make an opt-out decision prior to death.
Doctors warned in December that organ donor numbers were lower last year.
HSE figures show 202 organ transplants for 2025, thanks to 97 organ donors, living and deceased, and their families. Some people donated more than one organ.
In 2025, 68 deceased people donated organs and 29 living donors were involved. The 202 transplants included 33 livers, nine hearts, and 15 lungs and the majority were kidneys.
Dr Catherine Motherway, former head of the Limerick intensive care unit, told the that the number of organ donors this year is down on previous years.
“We know that this is not due to people not choosing to be organ donors. None of the potential organ donors this year had their names on the opt-out register,” she said.
During 2024 some 114 people donated organs.
“Unfortunately, every year people die while waiting for a transplant,” she said.
