Ms Doireann Ansbro:

We very much agree with Professor Scraton, from whom the committee heard earlier. Next week we will publish a report, of which he is the chief author, on the current coroner system. The committee can be assured that we very much agree with him on this issue. Some issues that will be highlighted in the report relate to the fact that at the moment, the coronial system operates on a part-time basis and is under-resourced, and there is not sufficient training for people in their posts or newcomers. We consider that the coronial system as a whole needs to be reformed, and I can go into more detail on those reforms later if the committee so wishes.

As for how that is relevant today, it is tricky because we are also saying - this comes to the Deputy's second question - that under Article 2 there is a need for an effective investigation, which requires a number of aspects, including being thorough and family-centred.

The thoroughness that is required means, as other speakers have said, that we need to know who died, where they died and, very importantly from the perspective of this Bill, how they died and the circumstances around their death, which currently this Bill excludes, and that is a major problem. We are saying that excluding the coroner's jurisdiction is a fundamental problem. How does one reconcile the fact that the current coronial system is probably inadequate to deal with these situations with the need to ensure that there are inquests, where necessary and appropriate? We would say that given the special human rights issues that arise in the context of mass graves, creating an agency that has the expertise, resources and training to carry out excavations, exhumations where necessary, and identifications, is important. When one gets to the point of identifying how people died and the circumstances of the death, in particular where there are relevant triggering contexts such as evidence of a violent or unnatural death, some would argue that coronial jurisdiction is triggered by the fact that people died in mother and baby homes under State responsibility, essentially, given that it funded the institutions, and had inspection and oversight responsibilities. What do we do if we have a currently inadequate system but need inquests? We agree with what Professor Scraton said this morning. We need to adequately resource specific coroners to deal with inquests for these kinds of institutional burial sites. It is important and cannot be stressed enough that resources must be made available. That means coroners need to have adequate training and the powers necessary to conduct the kinds of investigations that are necessary. There needs to be a hearing and a process that is family-centred, where families can come and share their experiences. All the things that go into a good inquest need to be applied in these contexts and the reality is that we need to resource specific coroners in order to carry out that role.