As well as taking this first opportunity in the Senedd to congratulate the Cabinet Secretary on his appointment and to thank him for this statement, may I congratulate each and every one who has made it possible for us to reach this point in terms of organ donation in Wales? We will hear from my fellow Member, Dr Dai Lloyd, in a few moments, as I know that he has a few questions to ask. But I would like to pay tribute to him and thank him for introducing the proposal to change the legislation back in 2007.

I hope that the early statistics that have been outlined by the Secretary do demonstrate that this has been a valuable step, and a step that has already saved lives and will continue to do so. It will save many lives here in Wales. But I also hope, as we’ve seen with a number of other pieces of innovative legislation here in the National Assembly for Wales, that it will encourage other democratic bodies in these isles to be just as innovative.

May I ask what discussions the Welsh Government has had with other Governments within the UK to urge them to adopt a similar system, particularly bearing in mind, of course, that patients in other parts of these isles could have benefited from our new legislation here in Wales and the positive statistics that have emerged as a result of the introduction of the legislation?

May I also ask how many people who could have donated organs during this period had opted out? I note from the statement that far fewer than expected had opted out—some 5 per cent, as compared with the 14 per cent that was estimated in an earlier prediction—but each lost opportunity is an opportunity lost in terms of saving lives. So, what are the statistics there? Given that we need to continue to inform people on the importance of organ donation, what is the Government’s intention as regards continuing with the work of educating people in this area, following this legislative change?

In the case of those who hadn’t stated one way or another what their preference was, in how many cases was a decision made to not donate organs on the basis of discussions with family, and not on a medical basis? More generally, along with most people in this Chamber today, this has been a debate that has raised very complex moral questions over the past few years, but, as I say, it’s the outcomes that matter at the end of the day, and it’s good to be able to look back at a successful start to this new piece of legislation.