Michael Harty (Clare, Independent)
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27. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce legislation as a matter of urgency which will provide for mandatory and automatic referral of all maternity-related deaths here to the coroner for inquest; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33375/17]

Michael Harty (Clare, Independent)
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I ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to outline his plans to introduce legislation as a matter of urgency to provide for mandatory and automatic referral of all maternity-related deaths to the coroner for inquest and to make a statement on the matter.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Harty for tabling this important question. As the Deputy will be aware, his colleague, Deputy Clare Daly, proposed a Private Members' Bill, entitled the Coroners Bill 2015, to address issues with regard to the investigation into maternal deaths. That Bill proposed to introduce mandatory reporting, post-mortem examinations and inquests into any maternal death. It also proposed the extension of the current scheme of legal aid to next of kin in respect of maternal death inquests.

The Government decided not to oppose that Bill on Second Stage. My predecessor subsequently met Deputy Clare Daly to discuss her concerns regarding the issue further.

Following that meeting, the Government approved the urgent drafting and publication of the Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2017 to ensure that, as Deputy Harty stated, all relevant maternal deaths would be fully reported to and investigated by the coroner. The Bill will be based on the relevant sections of the Coroners Bill 2007, which completed Second Stage in the Seanad on 4 October 2007. The mandatory reporting, post mortem and inquest provisions of that Bill will be updated beyond maternal deaths to a wider listing of deaths to be reportable to a coroner. The 2017 Bill will also provide for legal aid for a family member at any inquest into a maternal death.

In order to address concerns previously raised by the Attorney General and others concerning the need to improve compliance with European Convention on Human Rights obligations in this area, I propose to address a limited number of other issues in the Bill so as to ensure that the coroner has sufficient and effective power to obtain relevant information in regard to maternal and other deaths. These powers were already included in the 2007 Bill.

Subject to the final advices of the Attorney General, I hope to be in a position to publish the new Bill early in the next session.

Michael Harty (Clare, Independent)
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I acknowledge the contribution made on this issue by Deputy Clare Daly. It was also raised in the Dáil this morning by Deputy Howlin. This is a question of openness and accountability. It is not about apportioning blame for maternal deaths. Rather, it is about acknowledging what happened when there is a maternity-related death and to learn the lessons from that incident.

It is obviously a distressing and calamitous event for people when a mother or partner is lost. The failure to have maternity inquests is a glaring gap in our health and legal systems. We must have impartial investigations into all deaths. Families have to fight hard to have inquests held. There has been a limited number of inquests to date, with the verdict of medical misadventure applied to all of the deaths in question. As such, it is important that we put this on a statutory footing.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I agree with Deputy Harty that this is an important issue and one that I wish to address early in my tenure as Minister for Justice and Equality. I have had a number of meetings, one of which was with the Attorney General, in order to ensure that there would be no undue delay in having this Bill, which enjoys the support of the House along party lines and among Independents such as Deputy Harty. I regret that we will not be in a position to have the Bill debated in the House prior to the end of this session, which will be this week, but I have made every effort to ensure that it will be worked on and drafted, sent to the Cabinet and signed off on at the earliest opportunity. With the agreement of the Business Committee, I hope that the House will be in a position early in the next session to enact it.

Further issues with the 2007 Bill need to be addressed in order to strengthen the effectiveness of coroner inquests and improve compliance with our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. These issues include the strengthening of the powers of the coroner to summon witnesses to an inquest and direct a witness to produce documents and evidence and answer questions, and the introduction of penalties in respect of non-co-operation.

I thank Deputy Harty for raising this matter. It is my intention that it will be progressed with all due haste.

Michael Harty (Clare, Independent)
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I thank the Minister. He and many other Deputies are committed to the issue, as are the many city and county councils around the country that have debated it and endorsed the sentiment of having a mandatory and automatic inquest.

Will the Minister confirm that all maternity units are identifying all of their maternity deaths in their annual reports? Are national statistics being compiled on maternity deaths? A maternity death in a hospital is taken seriously by clinicians. They see it as a fundamental disaster and hospitals run internal investigations when there are maternity deaths, but we need openness, transparency and accountability when a maternity death occurs.

Will the Minister give a date for the legislation's publication and commit to introducing it in the Dáil at the earliest opportunity in the autumn?

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I hope that the Houses will be able to deal with this matter in the early part of the autumn session. My understanding is that there is all-party support and support from the Independent benches. With that in mind, I hope that matters can be progressed at the earliest opportunity.

Regarding the Deputy's comment on maternal deaths and the compilation of figures, such deaths are thankfully rare events in this country, as Deputy Harty will know from his medical experience. Due to their seriousness, however, it is vital that they be carefully monitored, reported and investigated. In this regard, I will advert to the second report on Ireland of the confidential inquiry into maternal deaths, which was published in Cork in February 2015. It identified a total of 31 maternal deaths in Ireland over the 2009-2012 period. My information is that practically all of those deaths were reported to a coroner, but I take Deputy Harty's point. It is important that each and every such death is carefully examined and dealt with. I hope to have the legislation enacted prior to the end of the year.