Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2021
642. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Justice the changes implemented in the coronial system on foot of the review of the coroner service report of the working group published in 2000 by her Department; the extent to and date by which each of the 110 recommendations has been implemented to date in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25836/21]
View answer643. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Justice her views on a report (details supplied); her plans to implement each of the 52 recommendations of the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25837/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 642 and 643 together.
As the Deputy may be aware, the coroners service comprises the network of coroners located in districts throughout the country. The coroner is an independent quasi-judicial office holder whose core function is to investigate sudden and unexplained deaths so that a death certificate can be issued. This is an important public service to the living and in particular to the next-of-kin and friends of the deceased. Coroners not only provide closure for those bereaved, but also perform a wider public service by identifying matters of public health and safety concerns.
The Deputy references two reports or reviews, which I will address separately in turn.
The report from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) - Death Investigation, Coroners’ Inquests and the Rights of the Bereaved - was published on 21 April last. The ICCL noted on its publication, that it had not sought to consult with, or to be in contact with, my Department prior to its publication and instead desired that my Department should study the report and the 52 recommendations contained therein.
On 11 May 2021, senior officials of my Department met with the ICCL and the report’s authors who outlined the development of the report and the various issues concerned. My Department will now proceed to examine the report and its recommendations in detail, as indicated to the ICCL.
The Report on the Review of the Coroner Service published in December 2000, was a significant milestone in the process of modernising our death investigation service, strengthening coroners’ powers and to provide for a major administrative restructuring of the coroner system. The report proposed that the coroner would remain an independent office holder, but there was no proposal to alter the position whereby the coroner is not permitted to consider or determine matters of civil or criminal liability at inquest – these are matters reserved to the Courts established under the Constitution.
In 2002, my Department worked with coroners and other stakeholders including the Faculty of Pathology of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, the then Department of Health and Children, the Office of the Attorney General, An Garda Síochána and the Samaritans to form a Rules Committee. The Report of the Coroners Rules Committee, published in 2003 proposed new rules for the work of the coroner and good practice guidelines.
The Coroners Bill 2007, incorporated many of the more than 100 recommendations contained in the 2000 Review. It also had regard to the proposals of the Rules Committee. However, due to the major challenges then confronting public finances, the administrative restructuring proposed in the 2007 Bill was not progressed following Second Stage in the Seanad.
Many of the recommendations of the 2000 review related to the strengthening of the legal provisions regarding the work of the coroner. In this regard, there has been significant implementation of many of the relevant recommendations, sometimes to a greater extent than that envisaged by the review in the intervening period. Such improvements were effected through amendments to the Coroners Act 1962 in 2005, 2011, 2013, 2019 and 2020 as follows.
- The Coroners (Amendment) Act 2005 ended the restriction on the number of medical witnesses allowed at inquest.
- The Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 provided for the restructuring and amalgamation of coronial districts. Coroner districts within counties have been amalgamated as the opportunities have arisen. There were 48 districts in 2000, there are 39 now and this will reduce to 38 within 2021.
- The Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 provided for legal aid and legal advice by certification by the coroner to the Legal Aid Board in relation to inquests.
- The Coroners (Amendment) Act 2019 clarified, strengthened and modernised coroner’s powers in the reporting, investigation and inquest of deaths. The scope of enquires at inquest was expanded beyond being limited to establishing the medical cause of death, to seeking to establish, to the extent the coroner considers necessary, the circumstances in which the death occurred. The Act also broadened the coroner’s powers relating to mandatory reporting and inquesting of maternal deaths, deaths in custody or childcare situations and significant new powers to compel witnesses and evidence at inquest.
- The Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 provided, among other items, for the assignment and appointment of temporary coroners to act simultaneously with other coroners in exceptional circumstances to be utilised as part of the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
My Department continues to actively consider the optimum organisation of the coroner service. It has taken responsibility for the Dublin Coroner Office from the local authorities since 1 January 2018. We have greatly increased the resources available to that Office in the intervening period. The related mortuary and post-mortem examination facilities, which are also available to the Office of State Pathologist have also been improved and extra resources provided.
