Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, who unfortunately cannot be here, I thank Deputy Calleary for raising these matters and I appreciate the concerns he has articulated. As the Deputy will be aware, the relevant circumstances are linked to a very tragic set of events which occurred in 2009 and resulted in the deaths of two people. The Minister is very conscious that these deaths have impacted significantly on the families concerned and this is, of course, fully understandable.

The primary legislation currently applicable to coroners, the Coroners Act 1962, specifically prohibits the consideration or investigation of any question of civil or criminal liability at an inquest. In that regard it is a requirement that the inquest must be confined to ascertaining the identity of the person on whose death the inquest is being held and how, when and where the death occurred. With regard to the holding of an inquest under the 1962 Act, a coroner is a statutory officer exercising quasi-judicial functions, in which regard he or she is independent. Accordingly, a coroner is responsible for the holding of an inquest and for conducting the inquest. In that regard it is not open to the Minister or his Department to intervene on a particular case. However, the courts have ruled that they have the capacity to determine whether a coroner may have exceeded his or her jurisdiction in respect of a specific inquest. Within that framework an application for a judicial review may be made if it is considered there has been a defect in the conduct of an inquest or in its conclusions.

The circumstances linked to the case referred to by the Deputy are undoubtedly complex and it would not be appropriate to enter into a discussion on them. That being said, I might mention that these circumstances have led to judicial review proceedings which were initiated against the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Attorney General. In the event, the proceedings were not successful and, given the background involved, the State did not seek to recoup its costs.

No doubt the Deputy will recall that the Coroners Bill 2007 was restored to the Order Paper in 2011. The Bill provides for a comprehensive overhaul of the law relating to coroners and it provides for the recognition of the views of a victim's family. In particular, section 36 provides that the coroner is required to inform the family of the deceased person, or such interested person as the coroner considers appropriate, of a range of matters relating to the investigation of the death. The coroner is required, in as far as is practicable, to keep such persons informed of the progress and conclusion of the investigation. The Coroners Bill is being reviewed within the Department of Justice and Equality. This process will be completed as quickly as possible and the Deputy can be assured the concerns he has raised will be taken into account in the course of the review. The Minister is very conscious of the hurt and trauma for family members involved in this tragic case.

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