Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate and I thank Deputy Daly for her work on the Bill.

The purpose of the amendments is to clarify, modernise and strengthen the legal powers of coroners regarding the reporting of deaths and the conduct of post mortem examination and inquests. I support that going forward.

The death of a loved one can be a deeply distressing time. It has been brought to my attention that when an Irish person dies abroad, his or her death cannot be registered in Ireland. That is heartbreaking for the families and loved ones of the deceased, and I sympathise with any family left in that position. That is such a difficult time for the family, and we need to consider ways of supporting bereaved families and allowing for these deaths to be registered in Ireland. According to my information, registration of the deaths of Irish people who have died abroad is short of being resolved and has cross-party support. Why has this not happened? This is an urgent issue that needs to be looked into.

When a person passes away in Ireland, this Bill retains discretion for the coroner, having consulted family members of the deceased, to hold an inquest into the death. If the coroner is satisfied, taking account of the specified matters, including the views of the family members, that the death was natural, an inquest will not be needed.

In the cases where an inquest is required, it should be carried out in a timely and efficient manner. Having spoken to some of my constituents who have relayed their experiences to me, I know these families can have problems receiving farm payments, etc. if the farm is in the bereaved's name until the inquest is completed. It is important, therefore, that strong supports are put in place for such families.

This Bill further provides for mandatory reporting to a coroner of a stillbirth death or an infant death. I have 100% sympathy for any parent who loses a child and the Bill should not place an additional burden on grieving parents at such a difficult time. I ask that this part of the legislation be examined and implemented in a way that will not cause further distress to grief-stricken parents.

I welcome that the Bill will make provision for information to be provided to a family member of the decreased. It is important that families of the decreased be kept informed during this difficult time.

I welcome also that the Bill will widen the scope of an inquest from investigating the proximate medical cause of death to establishing the circumstances in which the decreased died. It will provide new powers for a coroner to enter a premises with a warrant to inspect a copy or seize documents required for a coroner's inquiry into the death of a person and it will direct a witness to answer questions at an inquest.

Overall, I support the amendments in the Bill but stress that they need to take into account the difficulties of the families, the loved ones and the bereaved. These amendments should help to support people who have been bereaved.

See this speech in context