Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to be standing in for Deputy Daly today although I would have attended the meeting anyway. We are speaking about modernising and humanising this vital service. It is one of the oldest public services we have in the State. Professor Cusack was the coroner in Kildare. As he said, there were a disproportionate number of deaths in the first wave of Covid. I heard him speak on "Drivetime" and I listened back to it because I was so taken by what he said. He gave people back their dignity in death. He referred to them as the unique and loved. So much of the conversation about older people at the time was almost as if they had reached their best before date. What is another year? A year might be the difference between a first great-grandchild being born and a first day at school. These years are important. It is great to have Professor Cusack's input.

There is potential for the office of the coroner to be a voice for people. Professor Cusack approached the nursing home deaths in a way that showed what is possible in the coroner's court to demystify the legal and medical processes and remove barriers so that ordinary people can be part of it. There is potential for this. Professor Cusack said he was involved in the Department of Justice's review of the coroner system in 2000. He said 107 recommendations were made. Have many of them come to life yet? Which of those that have not would Professor Cusack be most interested in seeing implemented immediately? For me it might be the centralisation of the process.