Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The first grouping contains 13 amendments, all of which I will support because they are sensible. Their purpose is to recognise the role of GSOC in investigations it conducts. It is important there is specific recognition within the coroner legislation to recognise the role played by GSOC. Some of the amendments are significant in their power, such as amendment No. 17, which seeks to amend section 47 of the principal Act. It will give a significant power to the coroner to request the Minister to seek an exhumation of a body if the coroner believes that the death was caused in unusual circumstances. All the amendments in the grouping are sensible and I will support them.

For efficiency, I will address the general issue with the Bill and the delay in the system, as raised by Deputy Clare Daly. I welcome the progress we have made. It is important the legislation is enacted as soon as possible. I am concerned that further amendments will be tabled in the Seanad but, like Deputy Clare Daly, I hope that will not unduly delay the enactment of the legislation. The legislation is very important because, unfortunately, a significant number of maternal deaths have occurred in Ireland. The families of the women who died are fully entitled to have a proper inquest and inquiry into the circumstances of the women's death. It is a gaping absence in the legislative system that we must ensure is filled. I commend Deputy Clare Daly on pushing the legislation. I am a member of the justice and equality committee with her and I know how diligent she has been in seeking to promote, advance and accelerate the legislation.

It is unquestionably the case that Opposition Deputies, such as Deputy Clare Daly and me, become frustrated as a result of delays in important legislation. The Minister will be aware that, like Deputy Clare Daly's important legislation, the Parole Bill 2016 is also important. I introduced it to the House and it was passed on Second Stage. I welcome that the Government agreed to adopt the Parole Bill and to seek to work on it but we are still waiting for Report Stage amendments to be tabled in respect of it. I urge the Minister to try to ensure that those Report Stage amendments are brought before the House during the current session. I do not say that because I am proprietorial about the Bill or because I want to have a Bill that I drafted enacted. Rather, it is because the Parole Bill will have a significant impact on people's lives. We are aware that when people currently apply for parole, there is a limited role for the victims of crime and their families. The Parole Bill seeks to provide that statutory recognition. I am conscious the Department of Justice and Equality is busy, given that the justice and equality committee deals with a great deal of legislation. I attended a meeting of the committee earlier with the Minister and we passed two other important items of legislation on Committee Stage. Legislation is ultimately a matter of priority and I ask the Minister to recognise that some legislation must be prioritised. We need to ensure that the Bill before us is enacted before the end of the current session. It is cruel and unfair for the people and for the families of women who have died in childbirth to proceed in circumstances where there is no statutory obligation to hold an inquest in respect of their deaths. The Parole Bill, too, is important and the Minister should seek to expedite it as a priority. It would reflect positively on the Government, as would enactment of the legislation before us. Most importantly, however, both items of legislation are necessary and appropriate for the people.

On Committee Stage, I tabled an amendment to increase the retirement age of coroners from 70 to 72, although it was ruled out of order on the basis it was a charge on the Exchequer. A similar amendment has not been tabled by the Minister and I express my disappointment about that. Many useful people are forced to retire when they reach 70 years of age but we need to recognise that people still have ability and capacity beyond that age. The Minister might also take that into account in the case of judges. It is not so long ago that judges had a retirement age of 72 in the superior courts but it was reduced to 70. People are sharp when they are in their 70s, although I accept that nobody present in the House is in his or her 70s yet. We should not consign people in their 70s to a retirement home at a time when one could say they are in the prime of their professional lives.

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