Vol. 546 No. 4
130 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the situation regarding delays being caused to families wishing to access the financial resources of deceased family members; if delays in issuing death certificates can be explained; if interim death certificates are or can be made legal documents; and his plans for legislation regarding matters of interim documents. [32157/01]
Delays in issuing death certificates and the consequent need for interim death certificates can arise in cases where inquests are involved. In this connection, I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 127 of Wednesday, 3 October 2001 in which I indicated that a final coroner's certificate is issued only when an inquest has been completed. From the relatives perspective there is, therefore, a practical requirement for a certificate of death to issue as soon as possible after death. In practice, coroners usually issue an interim death certificate or some written confirmation of the fact of death in advance of the inquest.
Arising from the recommendations of the report of the working group on the review of the coroner service, I intend to put such interim documents on a statutory basis.
The criteria for issuing these documents will be examined in detail by a recently established rules committee – also recommended by the review group. The work of this committee is an essential part of the preparation for proposed new coroner legislation.
