Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand that across the various coroners' areas there are approximately 200 cases in which the bodies or partial remains of individuals have not been identified. That figure is taken from a survey which added them all up. There is no central relationship that allows such discoveries to be cross-checked with the cases of people who have been reported missing. Problems can arise when people who have been reported missing turn up in a totally different part of a country. I know of a case involving a person whose remains were discovered in County Galway and who has not been identified, in which the evidence suggests that the person was not even from Ireland. I am concerned that there is no central place where the Garda authorities and the coroners can go after bodies are discovered to cross-check information about people who have been reported missing. I am raising this issue in that context. I am asking for serious consideration to be given to the establishment of a central database. I suggest that someone be given responsibility for working on this matter, even on a part-time basis, in order to ensure that people might go to a central place.