Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

There should be a broader power than simply saying, for example, that somebody died of asphyxiation. The analogy for a coroners court is not an adversarial court; it is more like a standing tribunal into unnatural deaths or suspected unnatural deaths. A tribunal can make a finding which is of significance and which the public can understand, but it does not have legal consequence in terms of conviction. People do not stand convicted or whatever on foot of a tribunal's decision. On the other hand, the public expects to get the full facts and truth rather than a narrow, medical cause of death verdict. I agree with both Deputies that we must address the issue and I intend to do so.

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