Daithi's Law: 'Stormont could have had the very same act in 2015 but it was rejected'

Mrs Dobson (who is the mother of a kidney transplant recipient) had begun work on the Human Transplant Bill around a decade ago, before it was formally introduced to the Assembly as a private member’s bill.

This is a draft law which is being moved by an individual MLA (or MP in the Commons), rather than by a minister in the government.

Whilst private members’ bills can succeed if they garner enough support, they cannot automatically rely on the resources and political muscle which a government-moved bill enjoys.

The groundwork for Daithi’s Law was laid in 2022 when the Assembly passed ‘The Organ and Tissue Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill’ with the support of health minister Robin Swann – but MLAs still need to put some finishing touches to it before it becomes law.

Mrs Dobson (who represented Upper Bann for the UUP from 2011 to 2017) said today: “What was passed last year by Robin – who I was proud to work alongside in my current role as NI Ambassador for Kidney Care UK – is the same thing.

"It’s a soft opt-out bill which brings us in line with the rest of the UK.

"And while we had the chance back in 2013 to be second behind Wales, we are now the last of the four nations to implement it.”

Mrs Dobson had launched a public consultation spanning 16 weeks, generating almost 1,400 responses; an Assembly briefing document compiled on her behalf said that “a sizeable majority” had backed the objectives of her bill.

However it never made it beyond the committee stage – the third of seven – and by the end of 2015 it was effectively thwarted.

Among its critics was GAA pundit Joe Brolly (himself a kidney donor) who was reported as saying: “I think Stephen Hawking couldn't understand this bill. I mean I’m a lawyer. It's what I do. It’s impossible to understand.”

Mrs Dobson was quoted saying the DUP and Sinn Fein “had joined forces to kill the bill” saying “they have gutted it and left nothing".

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