Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following:

"(a) by the repeal of section 17 and the substitution of the following:

'17.—Subject to the provisions of this Act, where a coroner is informed that the body of a deceased person is lying within his district, it shall be the duty of the coroner to hold an inquest in relation to the death of that person if he is of opinion that the death may have occurred

(a) in a violent or unnatural manner,

(b) suddenly and from unknown causes,

(c) in military, Garda or prison custody,

(d) following release from military, Garda or prison custody, as a consequence of conditions of custody, treatment while in custody, or a lack of appropriate medical attention while in custody, or

(e) in a place or in circumstances which, under provisions in that behalf contained in any other enactment, require that an inquest should be held.',".

This Bill is welcome and my amendments do not detract from that but seek to address other urgent issues connected with the Coroners Act that my party feels should be addressed as quickly possible. This is preferable to delaying until the long-awaited comprehensive reform Bill is published and travels through both Houses of the Oireachtas to become law. I thank the Labour Party for tabling this Bill and take the opportunity to ensure that we consider these two further priorities which must be addressed.

This amendment is quite simple: it aims to make it mandatory to hold an inquest in all cases where the death occurs in military, Garda or prison custody. In certain circumstances deaths occur immediately after the period of custody. Given that many people die in prison and there is nothing untoward in their deaths, one might wonder why there should be an inquest in each case. When people are in Garda or military custody or are in prison, the State has a special duty of care for them. It is therefore in the public interest to hold an inquest every time a person dies in custody, or the death is related to the custody.

This would reassure the public that nothing untoward happened and that everything connected with that custody was above aboard. In the public interest it is necessary to establish the identity of the deceased, when and where the death took place, and the medical cause of death. The inquest must also take into account the circumstances surrounding the death. This amendment will improve transparency and promote public confidence in the institutions which hold people in custody. It is also crucial in the interests of justice for the family of the deceased that this amendment be adopted.

The reference in the amendment to deaths occurring in custody is based on recommendation No. 54 of the report of the working group to review the coroner service. The report stated:

There are situations where a coroner has discretion to hold an inquest and other situations where he has no choice in the matter. The present legal provisions in this regard are presented in a somewhat tortuous way in that some mandatory inquests are subject to the opinion of the coroner that a post-mortem will suffice in terms of carrying out an effective death investigation. . . .Having discussed the issue, the Group felt that obligatory inquests should be extended to cover such situations as death in Garda custody, prison . . .

The coroners rules stipulate that an inquest must be held where a coroner believes the death occurred in a violent or unnatural manner; a death occurs in Garda, Military or prison custody and where it is required under another enactment.

Only the first and third grounds for mandatory inquest have a direct legislative basis, namely, the Coroners Act 1962, section 17 which states:

Subject to the provisions of this Act, where a coroner is informed that the body of a deceased person is lying within his district, it shall be the duty of the coroner to hold an inquest in relation to the death of that person if he is of opinion that the death may have occurred in a violent or unnatural manner, or suddenly and from unknown causes or in a place or in circumstances which, under provisions in that behalf contained in any other enactment, require that an inquest should be held.

The only case in which there is no legislative direction to hold an inquest is when "a death occurs in Garda, Military or prison custody".

Sinn Féin believes deaths occurring in custody should be treated equally with those listed in the coroners rules. Therefore legislation should guarantee a mandatory inquest in those cases. This amendment would provide such a guarantee.

Our amendment goes slightly further in that it seeks a guarantee of a mandatory inquest into deaths that occur following custody where the coroner is of the opinion that the death may relate to the circumstances of custody. Several cases, some high profile, others less so demonstrate the case for mandatory inquests in deaths following custody. These include the tragic cases of Brian Rossiter, Terence Wheelock, and John Maloney from my constituency.

We are not trying to decide the outcome of such inquests but holding them could go a long way to addressing concerns often raised by the parents or others about the deaths of people who have just been released from custody. In many cases these are sudden deaths which may be connected with the circumstances under which the person was held. The inquest will form that opinion.

That is why this amendment should be accepted for everybody's sake. It is a reasonable amendment and the issue is pressing. We have the opportunity now to ensure that this one of the 110 recommendations of the coroner service review group is implemented. At least we will have begun to address those recommendations rather than wait another year or two for the Minister to bring forward the full Bill.

See this speech in context