Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader to arrange for the Minister for Justice and Equality to come to the House so that we might debate the costs of and services offered by coroners throughout the country. The House may be aware that the costs with regard to the salaries and other charges relating to the coroners are footed by the local authority in each area, which is a substantial amount of money, particularly for the smaller local authorities that have a low revenue base in terms of commercial rates and so on. In some smaller counties it can be up to €250,000 a year.

In line with our embraced principle of subsidiarity in terms of being European and all these responsibilities, it would be more appropriate for the Department of Justice and Equality to pick up the bill for this area. I am sure the Minister for Justice and Equality would not be jumping up and down at the thought of doing that but it is unfairly levied on local authorities, and the smaller ones in particular simply cannot afford to bear those costs. That is an issue we could usefully debate at an early date.