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

I thank the Minister. This is comprehensive legislation. On the issue of communication, in particular between people in the hospital structure, between coroners, and all those involved when a person dies. one of the issues in that respect regarding the hospital structure is that the people at the coalface are junior doctors in a lot of cases. I am not sure whether there is a proper structure there about that communication system between them and those involved, say, if an inquest is required and they must consult the coroner. In dealing with this legislation, additional work will have to be done to make sure all the boxes are ticked. I am not sure about the planning of additional resources and staffing within the various areas, whether it is the coroners, the hospitals, and everyone else involved, because the feedback I get from a number of different areas is that the wrong people are being contacted when, say, an inquest is required and we are talking about the coroners being involved as well. Has the Department looked at that? The big problem in our hospitals is the constant turnover of staff because most of our hospitals are training hospitals. I am not sure whether there is a structure in every hospital to deal with the communications that will be required when it comes to this kind of issue. Will that be looked at as well, in particular the issues of staffing and staff training in this area?