Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2024. I have highlighted on a number of occasions over the years, both inside and outside the House, the challenges when it comes to the provision of services within the system. These challenges are so very often related to recruitment and the numbers of personnel available to do the various different jobs that need to be done. Under the amendment this Bill will make to the Coroners Act it is very important that we will have a say in the appropriate number of coroners available and the possibility of employing additional temporary coroners if required. This flexibility is obviously welcome and very important.

The briefing note refers to the Stardust inquest and the necessity for a coroner to be available to conclude those such an inquest. The people involved in that inquest have been through hell and back and are trying to get answers. It has been a very long process since the incident occurred in 1981, at which time I was a child. Now, 43 years later, the anniversary of those awful events is traumatic for people when they have to be going on for this length of time reliving tragedies and waiting for answers. If this Bill can help to ensure those answers are more forthcoming as soon as possible then this is very much a good thing. Everyone would agree we must have a coroner available in the Dublin district to be able to undertake usual duties and that we do not want bereaved families or family members having to wait unnecessarily long lengths of time for answers. It is a difficult time. It is a traumatic time and it can be very stressful and emotional. Being able to deal swiftly with cases is very important.

We should ask a few questions of the Government and the Department in this regard. For example, should an event such as the ongoing inquest into the Stardust tragedy cause such strain on resources that we have to resort to panicked legislation and last-minute amendment? What was the procedure before temporary Covid legislation provided for temporary coroners?

I take the opportunity to welcome the granting of planning permission at Wexford General Hospital for the new 97-bed unit that has been spoken about for a long time. Obviously, the granting of planning permission means the bulk of the work is still to be done. I will be pushing to ensure that work is not put on the long finger, like the provision of an MRI scanner for the hospital seems to have been. We need to see the granting of planning permission acted upon immediately and progress made to have the 97-bed unit in situand operational as soon as possible. Delivery is what the people want. I would like to know what is happening with the MRI scanner. I remind the House once again that the people of Wexford, through the Friends of Wexford General Hospital group, raised €250,000 in 2018. Six years later, that money has not yet been spent. I am sure the Minister of State, a fellow Wexford man, will look for delivery of the capital infrastructure investment in the 97-bed unit at Wexford General Hospital.

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