Don't Leave Your Loved Ones in Doubt — Share Your Wishes About Organ Donation.
Organ Donation Awareness Week
The Irish Kidney Association is launching organ donor awareness week, which runs from 16 to 23 May in conjunction with the HSE's Organ Donation Transplant Ireland (ODTI). Under legislation since June 2025, people are presumed to have consented to organ donation unless they have registered their opt-out decision.
The association said that family agreement remains essential and that organ donation will not proceed without it, so sharing wishes is important.
The figures show that organ donation rates in many other European countries are significantly higher than in Ireland.
Ireland is also at the lower end of rates of living kidney donation compared to the other countries.
'Don't leave your loved ones in doubt', says kidney association
National Advocacy Manager, Colin White, with the Irish Kidney Association has urged people to get their donor card, as only 1% to 2% of deaths annually lead to an organ donation.
Mr White said the role of the family remains essential in the process.
"It is written into the legislation that organ retrieval can only go ahead after the healthcare professionals have assured themselves that the family has no objection.
"So this is why the Irish Kidney Associations message for Organ Donor Awareness Week is don’t leave your loved ones in doubt," he said.
He urged people to have the organ donation conversation and to go to IKA.ie/donorcard and to get your donor card, which can be downloaded to a digital wallet.
Mr White also said modern lifestyle is leading to an increased number of people requiring kidney dialysis.
He said some of the leading causes of kidney failure are hypertension and diabetes.
He added that we are also living longer and the typical age of people needing a transplant is over the age of 60.
"There are now medications available and lifestyle alterations available that you can successfully manage", adding that these people then do not end up in kidney failure.