Organ and body donation

Organ donation is when you give healthy organs and tissue from your body for transplantation into another person’s body, to replace their organs that are not healthy or not working.

You may be able to donate your heart, kidneys, lungs, liver and pancreas for transplant. The process of how you donate these organs will change from 17 June 2025 (see below).

Most organs are only transplanted after you die. A potential donor has to be in a hospital and maintained on a life support machine (ventilator) before they can become an organ donor. A person’s organs can be donated after:

• Brain stem death
• Cardiac death

Living donors

Some organs, such as a kidney, can be donated by someone who is alive if they can live a healthy lifestyle without the organ. To become a living donor, you must give informed consent. Read more about how to become a living donor.

The Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Act 2024 allows for a living person who wants to donate a kidney to someone they don’t personally know. This is also known as non-directed altruistic donation.

From 17 June 2025 an independent panel will be set up to consider non-directed altruistic donation.

Currently, you can become an organ donor if you give your consent by:

• Carrying a donor card
• Noting your consent on your driving licence or
• Setting up the organ donor app on your phone

You can get an organ donor card from:

• The Irish Kidney Association website
• Doctors' surgeries and pharmacies
• The Irish Donor Network (see below)

You should tell your family or next-of-kin that you consent to donating your organs after your death. Your family or next-of-kin can then tell the doctor or another healthcare professional in a hospital what your wishes were, if they are asked about organ donation.

Consent and your next-of-kin

If you gave your consent to donate your organs on an organ donor card, the app or your driving licence, this will tell the hospital that you are willing to have your organs used for transplant after you die.

You should tell your next-of-kin that you want to be an organ donor but they do not have to abide by your wishes, as their consent is always required.

The medical team at the hospital needs your next-of-kin to consent to donating your organs after you die. If your next-of-kin refuses to donate your organs the procedure will not go ahead.

From 17 June 2025, there are changes to how you can donate the following organs after you die:

• Liver
• Lung
• Pancreas
• Heart
• Kidney

Your family members will continue to be asked for consent for all other organs, tissues, or cells, as is the current situation.

These changes are being introduced as sections of the Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Act 2024 will be commenced on 17 June 2025.

I do not consent to organ donation after 17 June 2025

If you do not want to donate these organs, you should record your details on the new opt-out register when it is available in June 2025. This page will be updated when the register is made available.

After you are registered as opting out, your wishes will be respected and your family should not be asked about organ donation after you die.

You should also talk to your family to let them know of your decision.

This page will be updated with more details on the opt-out register when further information is available. Read more information on Gov.ie and the HSE website.

I want to consent to organ donation

After 17 June 2025, you will be assumed to consent to donate these organs, after your death, if you:

• Have not registered to opt out of organ donation and
• Are aged over 18

You do not have to take any action but you should let your family know of your decision.

Your designated family member will still be consulted before any organs are removed.

Who is my designated family member?

Firstly, your designated family member is the person that the medical professionals has had real and substantial contact with about your care and treatment before your death

If there is no such person, your designated family member, in order of priority, if they are available, will be your:

• Spouse or civil partner
• Cohabitant
• Children
• Parent or a previous guardian
• Brother or sister or step-brother or step-sister
• Grandparent
• Grandchild
• Uncle or aunt
• Niece or nephew
• Close friend who can correctly communicate your wishes

This page will be updated with further details when they are made available. Read more information on Gov.ie and the HSE website.

If you have decided to donate your organs if you die, they will only be removed when 2 doctors, working independently, have certified that you are dead following many strict tests.

Donating your organs does not change how your body looks or delay your funeral arrangements.

Sometimes your organs will not be used even if you are an organ donor. There are medical criteria and other conditions that must be met. For example, your death must take place in a hospital for a safe transplantation to go ahead. Your body will be maintained on a life support machine (ventilator).

If you have a medical condition this does not necessarily prevent you from becoming a donor. The final decision will be made by a healthcare professional at the time of your death.

You can read more about the organ donation process on the HSE website.

Post-mortems and organ donation

If your death is reported to the Coroner, the Coroner must give their permission before organ donation can take place, as well as the written consent of your next-of-kin. Read more about the role of the Coroner and post-mortems.

If you donate your organs for transplantation, this will happen in an operating theatre, as this is not a post-mortem practice.

If you donate your organs for research, this will happen in a mortuary as it is a post-mortem procedure.

Changes to post mortems

When fully commenced, the Human Tissue Act 2024 will make certain changes to current post-mortem practice and procedure. It will require additional communication and information sharing with families when a post-mortem by a coroner is needed.

It will also introduce a consent framework for how consent should be obtained from families for post-mortems that are not carried out by the coroner.

You can donate your whole body for medical research to help health workers to learn more about anatomy, research and treating illness.

If you want to donate your body for medical research, you should contact one of the medical research schools located in the colleges listed below. Each medical school has its own procedures for entering into an agreement with you:

• University College Dublin
• Trinity College Dublin
• The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
• University College Cork
• National University of Ireland, Galway

You should also make sure that your next-of-kin know that you want to donate your whole body to medical research by:

• Telling them and/or
• Stating that you wish to donate your body for medical research in your will.

Currently, the law is unclear on this but your next-of-kin, or whoever is responsible for the cremation or interment of your body, are not necessarily obliged to go along with your wishes.

When the Human Tissue Act 2024 is fully commenced, it will put in place new arrangements for donating your body to an anatomy school, and set standards to be met in the practice of anatomy.

Read more information, watch videos and find leaflets in different languages about organ donation on the HSE website

The Irish Donor Network

The Irish Donor Network is a group of individuals and patient associations directly concerned with organ transplantation, donor families and medical co-ordinators involved in organ and tissue transplantation. You can contact any member of the Irish Donor Network for further information or for organ donor cards. Those involved in the Network are:

• Donor families
• The Irish Kidney Association
• The Irish Heart and Lung Transplant Association
• The Cystic Fibrosis Association
• The Irish Lung Fibrosis Association
• Alpha One (Anti Trypsin) Foundation
• Liver Transplant Unit in St.Vincent's Hospital
• Hospital Transplant Co-ordinators
• Children’s Liver Disease Ireland
• Heart Children Ireland
• The Eye and Bone Banks