Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In one of the cases, the person drowned in County Limerick but the remains washed up in County Clare. It took 17 years for the records to be matched up. The other case involved a person who went missing in County Dublin and was washed up in County Louth. It took 12 years for the records to be matched up. My understanding is that the delays occurred because there was no central database whereby missing persons could be checked against bodies that are found.