Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 12, to delete line 16 and substitute the following: “(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “such required particulars of the death concerned as may be specified by an tArd-Chláraitheoir” for “the required particulars of the death concerned and that registrar shall register the death in such manner as an tArd-Chláraitheoir may direct”,

(b) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):”.

This group of amendments relates to the providing of required particulars of a death where that death is the subject of an inquiry or investigation by a coroner under the Coroners Act 1962. These amendments have been identified by the General Register Office through its engagement with the Coroners Society and the Department of Justice on the workings of the new Bill. Coroners often have difficulty in determining required particulars that are personal to the deceased and the family of the deceased. The amendments will enable the next of kin to provide these more personal details and allow a fuller capturing of all the required information concerning the death. They will facilitate the capturing of all the required particulars or information concerning a death in circumstances where the death is referred to a coroner.

Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 change the requirement for a coroner to provide all the required particulars of a death. The coroner will now only be required to provide certain required particulars that will be specified by an tArd-Chláraitheoir. These particulars will include cause of death, date of death and name of deceased and will be agreed between the GRO, the Coroners Society and the Department of Justice.

Amendment No. 4 provides for the registration of a death referred to a coroner. The registrar will liaise with the next of kin to provide the remaining required particulars of the death. The next of kin will replace the coroner as the qualified informant in relation to the death. This amendment also provides for circumstances where the next of kin is unable to physically attend the office of a registrar.

Amendment No. 5 makes a technical amendment to allow for a death certificate to be valid where a qualified informant was unable to sign the register in circumstances as set out in amendment No. 4.

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