To ask the Minister of Health whether his Department will recommence public awareness campaigns encouraging greater understanding of organ donation laws.

My Department has a statutory duty to promote organ transplantation under the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016. In line with this duty, my Department oversees a comprehensive rolling programme of outreach and engagement activity to promote knowledge and informed discussion about organ donation, including promoting understanding of organ donation laws, which is aimed at driving registrations on the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR) and sustaining and increasing rates of consent to both living and deceased organ donation.

The programme is delivered by an Organ Donation Promotion Manager, situated in the Public Health Agency (PHA), through a partnership approach with Health and Social Care Trusts, NHS Blood and Transplant, local government, and charity partners and spans the community, voluntary and education sectors.

You will be aware that I have repeatedly stated that the budget allocated to the health service is wholly inadequate. This has resulted in a collective effort across the system and at Department level to make savings, including a moratorium on paid advertising campaigns and consideration of other discretionary spend which has impacted on paid aspects of the organ donation programme.

However, the PHA has adjusted the programme to have an increased focus on uplifting initiatives using social media and other approaches and seeking new partnership opportunities to ensure continued promotion of organ donation throughout the year. It is expected that paid campaign activity on organ donation will resume once the Executive is in a position to lift the current moratorium.