Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt the Deputy. What I am saying is there is co-ordination, as I understand it, between University Hospital Kerry and Cork University Hospital with regard to the provision of services. If there were delays, I will check what the reason is for those and revert to the Deputy. I will also get him the average time it takes for post-mortems. The figures I have for 2021 show there were over 5,071 post-mortems performed in HSE hospitals in 2021. That is a huge number. Where there is a suspicious death, the State pathologist gets involved, and if it is a non-suspicious death, it is hospital-based consultants who are involved.

The HSE has advised that the pathology service in University Hospital Kerry is supported, as required, on a regional basis by consultants based in Cork University Hospital. I understand any delays may cause additional distress for already grieving families and I offer my condolences to all of the families affected. I assure families that coroners throughout the country work closely with hospitals and consultant pathologists at a local level to ensure that post-mortems are carried out as directed and in a timely manner. I will take on board what the Deputy has said. I will go back to the Department and the HSE to see if there is a specific issue with regard to the Deputy's area.

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