Mr. Rody O'Brien:

I thank the Deputy for his probing questions on this which are very important. The role of the coroner is basically bypassed in the general scheme under head 7. Head 31 does allow it back in where there are questions of investigations where gardaí are involved and where the death may be as a result of unnatural causes. The wording is very vague. It refers to exhumation and to the Garda but I do not even understand what it says there. In the case where there is an unnatural death or a death in violent circumstances the coroner is involved. It appears that this scheme bypasses that. Ms Ryan-O'Brien, Ms Coughlan and others made the point that time is really important here but, at the same time, there is a balance between justice and time. Leaving the coroner system out altogether is problematic from the point of view of justice, investigation, and establishing what happened. Under international law and the European Convention on Human Rights we are obliged to investigate these mass deaths and mass burials. There is scope somewhere to include a coroner aspect to the Bill without maybe going down the traditional route as most people involved know about. It is a very long drawn-out process in any event. It may be possible to incorporate a role for the coroner specifically to deal with the issues that are addressed in the Bill and interventions with regard to investigation - which is really the key word - and justice for all those involved so that they can have some sense of closure. I would not rule out the fact that a coroner's role can be bypassed as it appears to be done here.