John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I am sure the Minister wants to get this Bill through before he even thinks about that.

The Government, and especially the Minister, should be congratulated for facilitating this Bill and its swift passage through both Houses. The Minister could have decided to draft a Bill along the lines of the one before us but he rightly recognised that such legislation may not have endured the charge that it did not address the necessary reform. Alternatively, he could have presented a full Bill of the type currently being finalised but the likelihood of it being enacted before the taking of the highlighted case was very remote. The Government and all those associated must be congratulated for this initiative.

As has been stated, the Government's legislative programme, announced at the beginning of the session, contained a commitment to replace the Coroners Act 1962 with a modern code of law which would establish a coroners service and transform the organisation. The Minister has confirmed that he intends to publish the heads of that Bill, which are quite comprehensive, and the consultation process will then take place. I welcome that and believe it is the necessary and correct way to proceed.

Notwithstanding all of that, the Bill before us focuses on two specific deficiencies, namely, the restriction on the number of medical witnesses and the outdated sanctions for the non-attendance of a witness or juror. In a limited number of cases, these deficiencies have combined to hamper inquests. The Minister has met the Nowlan family and accepts that the current law could have created an injustice had it not been remedied. That is commendable and is the right way to proceed. Certain cases have helped to highlight the inadequacies of the current law and have proved the need for change. When a Government responds positively and political parties conspire to bring about that change, it is a good day for democracy.

We recently debated the Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill in this House, which promotes the revision of statute law by repealing Acts passed before December 1922 that have ceased to be enforced or become unnecessary. In this case, the Coroners (Amendment) Bill seeks to abolish the outdated restriction that a coroner can only call two medical witnesses to give evidence at an inquest. This restriction could not be left in place because it had a detrimental impact on the conduct of inquests and I join with those, including many coroners, who have called for its removal.

I join with previous speakers in congratulating the Nowlan family, who have highlighted their case. They need to be supported and commended for their bravery and civic spirit, as mentioned by Senator Brian Hayes. The Labour Party and Deputy Rabbitte, through Senator Tuffy, are to be congratulated for bringing the Bill to this stage, as are others who have been associated with highlighting the Nowlan case, notably Deputy O'Connor and Senator Brian Hayes. The latter has spoken on this issue a number of times and has spoken to me about it in an effort to support the Minister in bringing this legislation through speedily. The Minister and the Tánaiste, who also met the family, have shown an enormous interest in this case. The legislation will enable members of the Nowlan family to go to the coroner's court early next year and get the answers they seek. In that context, it is quite unusual that legislation enacted by us can have such a real impact in such a short space of time.