A plea to set up a national organ donor register has been met with a mixed reaction.

New Zealand has one of the lowest donor rates in the western world and a parliamentary committee believes a register would improve that statistic. It has called for radical changes to the way donors are found.

They include:

• Setting up a national organ donation agency
• A national register to replace the current driver licensing system
• An ongoing national awareness campaign
• More education for health professionals

Constitutional law expert Sir Geoffrey Palmer says that is great progress.

"This is a massive step forward. I can't tell you how important these select committee recommendations are. I think the select committee's done a superb job."

But one of New Zealand's top transplant surgeons, Dr Stephen Munn, says a register is too expensive.

"As soon as you have a dedicated organ donor registry it's a real struggle to get people to sign up and even if they do sign up you have to be certain that they don't change their minds about whether they want to donate, (or) which organs they want to donate."

Experts say a national register could never produce as many donors as the present system, where over 1.1 million New Zealanders are signed up as donors on their driving licences.

But for a number of reasons, that information is difficult to access and the number of actual donors each year ranges from just 34 to 46.