I move amendment No. 1:
In page 7, to delete lines 30 to 34, and substitute the following subsection:
"( ) Whenever the Minister is of opininon that any coroner or deputy coroner has been guilty of misconduct or neglect of duty or is unfit for office or incapable of the due discharge of his duties by reason of physical or mental infirmity, the Minister may send by registered post to such coroner or deputy coroner at his ordinary residence a notice in writing stating the said opinion and, if the Minister, after the expiration of seven days from the sending of the notice and after the consideration of the representations (if any) made to him by such coroner or deputy coroner, remains of the said opinion, he may by order remove such coroner or deputy coroner from office."
This amendment is being moved as a result of representations on Committee Stage that the present law regarding the removal of coroners from office, which is being re-enacted in Section 15, is defective in that it does not give the coroner concerned any opportunity of stating his side of the case before the order of removal from office is made. The new provision is modelled on subsection (3) of Section 25 of the Local Government Act, 1941 and provides for the Minister giving at least seven days' notice to the coroner and considering any representations he may make during that period before coming to a final decision removing him from office. It was Deputy M. J. O'Higgins who expressed concern about the provisions of the Bill as they stand and this amendment is to meet the point he put forward on Committee Stage.