John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address this motion tabled by Senator O’Donnell who deserves all credit and thanks for providing us with the chance to have a constructive discourse around this important topic. I am relieved the Government, through the influence of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, decided to withdraw the amendment to the motion. I do not know how we would have faced into a division over the waking of the dead and comforting the bereaved. There is no more compassionate or kind person in politics than Deputy Kathleen Lynch.

I am surprised, however, it has taken three years for this topic to get to the floor of the House. Politicians of all persuasions have had a strange relationship with funerals and bereavements down the years. Some are noted for never missing a funeral while I have been chided and chastised repeatedly by colleagues for not going to funerals. However, I refuse to go to someone’s funeral if I did not know the person. I will stick with that as it is hard enough to attend the funerals of those I knew.

When I was a young person, I was always bewildered as to why people showed up in large numbers to shake hands with families at funerals. As we grow older and experience bereavement, we realise how important and comforting this is for bereaved families. It should not be taken lightly as it is a well-worn and age-old ritual that should be respected. From a distance it appears a simple process but it is important for families experiencing bereavement, getting them through that difficult time of hardship and loss. It helps them hear other people commenting on their loved one and the relationship they had with them, a point we sometimes overlook.

Coming from a family of seven, I am conscious of the support one has during bereavement with a larger family. These days, family units are smaller with only one or two children in a family. Many people start families later in life and many parents and children do not have the support or the wise counsel of grandparents and extended families. Emigration is another issue affecting families these days. Portlaoise parish provides an Internet video link for funerals that can be seen anywhere in the world for extended family members who cannot make it home. I know of relatives of one family who were able to watch a funeral in Portlaoise parish church in Australia. Who would have thought we would have to resort to this? We have the technology which will help people to cope with a loss, which could be particularly heightened as they have emigrated.

Young people these days struggle to deal with new stresses and burdens imposed on them. If we are going to review the junior certificate, coping skills of all kinds should be embedded in the new curriculum. By the time we give young people bereavement counselling, it can be too late because they might be in the throes of the trauma. This motion calls for advance preparation for bereavement. What would be wrong with introducing coping skills for bereavement into the curriculum?

Other members raised the issue of preparing a will. Every year, there is a day devoted to making people aware of the importance of a will. It is a matter younger people believe does not affect them. Making a will properly, no matter one’s age, reduces stress on families who may have to deal with a bereaved family member leaving no will.

It has been brought to my attention over the past several months that across the midlands, post mortems are not being carried out in cases of sudden deaths during weekends. I have encountered cases of young people, unfortunately, killed in a road accident or through suicide on a Thursday evening or a Friday morning but no post mortem will be conducted until after the weekend. This leaves families without closure. While they need time to mourn, the trauma, anxiety and hurt is unnecessarily prolonged by this harsh cutback in health services. Will an on-call service be made available across several hospitals so a grieving family does not have to wait until Monday for a post mortem to be carried out and the funeral, in turn, deferred to later in the week? Death does not keep office hours. Accordingly, we should have post mortem facilities available in our hospitals at weekends, particularly in cases of sudden death. It is unfair to put this additional burden on the bereaved.