Yesterday on The Agenda we heard about how an average of almost 300 people a day have added their names to the opt-out register for organ donation since legislation was introduced six months ago.

The legislation makes every adult a donor unless they expressly withdraw their consent.

A total of 58,482 people had opted out of the scheme by December 31st, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said, equating to more than 2,000 people every week since the law was effected on June 17th.

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.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by National Advocacy Manager for the Irish Kidney Association, Colin White, who spoke us about the importance of being a donor

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A prominent privacy-rights advocacy group has queried the Department of Education's use of social media site X and its decision to post images of children on the platform.

Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) has asked what precautions under GDPR the department has taken in terms of its posting to the Elon Musk-owned site in the wake of revelations X is offering a service to paid subscribers allowing the digital alteration of images shared to X.

A recent investigation by content analysis firm Copyleaks claimed that X users were, as of December 31, generating “roughly one nonconsensual sexualised image per minute”.

Chairperson of Digital Rights Ireland and Law Lecturer in UCD, TJ McIntyre, joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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People granted refugee status will have to wait for three years before bringing relatives including spouses and children to Ireland under a planned tightening of family reunification rules.

On Tuesday, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan will brief the Cabinet on a new International Protection Bill, which will overhaul the State’s asylum system in advance of European Union-wide rules coming into force in June.

Last November, the Government signalled it would tighten rules around family reunification for people with refugee status, restricting the ability to bring relatives into the State if refugees were not financially self-sufficient, if they had been in receipt of some social welfare payments or if they owed a debt to the State.

CEO of Doras, John Lannon, joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this.

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Cycling campaigners have hit out at a judge’s remarks claiming that cyclists have become a “nightmare” in Dublin.

The Irish Cycling Campaign said this was a “sweeping” statement that runs the risk of “reinforcing dangerous attitudes toward a group of road users who are among the most vulnerable” on the country’s roads.

Judge James O’Donohoe made the comments when deciding that an injured cyclist was mainly responsible for the accident that had taken place in darkness at 6am in September 2020 and in which he had suffered 12 other soft tissue injuries. 

The judge reduced a €50,000 damages award by 80% to a cyclist who had suffered a brain injury when he and a motorbike had collided

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Noel Hogan, Chairman of the Drogheda Cycling group, who hit back at these comments.

We also spoke to Neasa Bheilbigh, Executive Chair of the Irish Cycling Campaign (Cyclist.ie), who got into a heated debate with Adrian over the issue.

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A recall notice has been issued for thousands of passports following a “technical error” which has resulted in incorrect details being printed on them, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has confirmed.

The recall applies to passports issued between December 23 and January 6 after it emerged that they were sent out to recipients with the letters ‘IRL’ absent from within.

In a statement, the DFA has apologised and warned those who recently received new passports that they may face difficulties while attempting to travel.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Social Affairs Correspondent at the Irish Times, Kitty Holland, who told us more about this

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Louth County Council have told councillors the Local Area Plan (LAP) for Drogheda will "not progress any further at this time". 

Louth County Council said it had intended, in conjunction with Meath County Council, to commence a Joint Local Area Plan for Drogheda in 2021, as part of both counties' Development Plans. 

However, Thomas McEvoy, Director of Services with Louth County Council said a judicial review of the Meath County Development Plan relating to lands in the Southern Envrions of Drogheda created uncertainty in progressing the joint Local Area Plan. He said Louth County Council chose to progress with the development of the Dundalk LAP as a result. That plan came into effect in 2025. 

Louth County Council said it had intended, in conjunction with Meath County Council, to commence a Joint Local Area Plan for Drogheda in 2021, as part of both counties' Development Plans. 

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Independent Councillor in Drogheda, Kevin Callan, who says that Drogheda Borough Council needs to be restored first, the campaign have issued communication that they reject the restoration of the borough council

We were also joined by Anthony Murphy, PRO of Drogheda City Status Group, who took to social media over the weekend to express his anger over the plan being dropped, and Bobby McCormack, Chair of IDEA and CEO of Development Perspectives & Drogheda native, who says that he is also disappointed by the plan ebing dropped.

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Drogheda could be joining the ‘Leave a Light On’ campaign in a bid to improve safety and boost the night-time economy in the town centre.

The initiative, which is already underway in Cork and Limerick, encourages businesses to brighten up the streets by leaving a light on after closing time. This additional lighting is aimed at creating a safer, more welcoming and vibrant environment during dark winter nights.

Louth County Council revealed this week that a proposal to introduce the scheme to Drogheda is currently being reviewed.

Mayor Michelle Hall highlighted the benefits of improved lighting at the January meeting of Drogheda Borough District, where asked the council to “ensure all street lights in the town centre are working and repaired in a timely manner”.

Michelle joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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Aontú wants Paschal Donohoe brought before the Oireachtas Finance Committee, over his decision to give €10 million euro more to the World Bank than it asked for.

He gave the €10 million extra to the World Bank in April last year, before he resigned as Finance Minister in November to take up a role at the World Bank.

The party's leader, Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín says giving extra money before taking up a job with the same organisation raises major questions.

Deputy Toibin joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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Louth County Council are moving away from long term leases, due to the extensive work needed once houses are handed back.

Dundalk councillors heard at their December meeting of a change in approach by the council’s housing section to long term leasing.

Cllr. Marianne Butler asked how many houses the council will be retrofitting under the EERP, the energy efficiency retrofit programme, and if there was a location for these houses.

She welcomed a property in Dundalk having been repaired and allocated under the Repair and Lease Scheme, but asked if a tenant going into a property under this initiative would expect to be given a thirty year lease.

Councillor Butler joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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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, making every adult a donor unless they expressly withdraw their consent.

A total of 58,482 had opted out of the scheme by 31 December, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has revealed, equating to more than 2,000 people every week since the law was effected on 17 June.

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.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by freelance journalist Darragh McDonagh who told us more about this. 

We were also joined by Fianna Fail TD Cormac Devlin, who has previously spoken to us on The Agenda about organ donation after bringing it up in The Dail.

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