The LifeCycle Foundation this morning presented a donation of €20,000 to Health Minister Chris Fearne to fund software that matches donated organs with patients.
Mr Fearne said that while machines used by renal patients will have all been updated to newer ones in the coming weeks, such donations from NGOs were still important.
The LifeCycle Foundation raises money in aid of renal patients by getting cyclists to take on extreme challenges.
Mr Fearne explained that matching organs to patients was a crucial step which involved a rigorous process that required highly-specialised software.
“The government has invested €5.5 million in equipment for renal patients but that doesn’t mean that the value of such NGOs diminished. On the contrary, such donations prove that participation of NGOs and civic society is important. It serves as proof society is ready to give a helping hand,” Mr Fearne went on.
This year’s LifeCycle challenge is to take place between July 14 and 28, with cyclists pedalling hundreds of miles in Kenya and Tanzania.