Pádraig Mac Lochlainn
Question:1081. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice the support that is provided to victims of crime for an inquest dealing with the death of a family member. [63618/22]
View answerWednesday, 18 January 2023
Questions (1081)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, coroners are independent quasi-judicial office holders whose function under the Coroners Acts 1962-2020 is to investigate sudden and unexplained deaths so that a death certificate can issue. The Department has no role in directing the work of coroners during their death investigation, which may culminate in an inquest.
An inquest is a fact-finding inquisitorial process, it cannot consider questions of civil or criminal liability. Therefore, an inquest is quite different from any adversarial criminal proceedings.
Coroners and/or their staff, or members of An Garda Síochána, may answer any questions a family member has in respect of the inquest process. Further information is also available on the following websites: www.dublincoronerscourt.ie/support-services/ and www.dublincoronerscourt.ie/what-we-do/.
In cases of murder, fatal road traffic collision, or kidnapping a Garda Family Liaison Officer (FLO) is assigned to the family of a victim. The FLO is responsible for liaising with the family throughout the Garda investigation and will provide timely and accurate information on the progress of the Garda investigation. They will also provide contact details of victim support organisations which are available to support victims and/or their families.
In relation to victim engagement with the criminal justice system more generally, my Department is introducing additional supports and reforms to ensure that victims (which under the victims of crime Act 2017 includes the family member of a homicide victim) are better supported throughout the entire criminal justice process.
There is also an increased budget of €5.8 million being made available from my Department this year to support the work of organisations that specifically deal with victims of crime.