Vol. 510 No. 3
384 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the serious concern regarding the long delay in the holding of inquests, particularly in the case of suspected suicides; the steps, if any, he will take to speed up the holding of these inquests and introduce a protocol of procedures for coroners' courts dealing with suicide cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22735/99]
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 16043/99 on Wednesday 23 June 1999, where I outlined that I have no official responsibility concerning the holding or scheduling of inquests as coroners are independent in the exercise of their judicial, or quasi-judicial, functions.
I also advised the Deputy that in December last, the Government approved my proposals for the establishment of a working group to undertake a comprehensive review of the coroner service.
It is expected that its report, which should be available early in the new year, will examine all aspects of the service including the matters referred to by the Deputy.
