Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I support much of what Senator Browne has said on this section. During the recent tragedy we had in Wexford, when people were lost off the south coast, members of one of the families, as they waited each day in Kilmore for news of their lost brother, told me that their father had taken ill because of the trauma and ended up in Waterford Regional Hospital, where he was suffering from MRSA. There is a need to address the issues. In that regard, the audit recently undertaken by the Tánaiste is a step in the right direction but we must get to the stage where people are held accountable. That is the thrust of a coroner's inquest in situations where people should perhaps have taken action, or where their inaction has led to serious outcomes.

I do not know how this issue can be related to or brought into the impending revised coroners Bill but it should be considered and beefed up so that everyone treats it as the priority it is. The situation is not good enough. I mentioned one circumstance but there are many similar ones to which people could allude. The circumstances in which the family members I spoke of found themselves compounded their trauma and tragedy.