Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I believe we cover all of what the Senator seeks to achieve in the existing provisions on reporting, so I am not in a position to accept the amendment. Section 35 provides for a director to prepare a report following post-recovery analysis, and this report must document the circumstances of the discovery of human remains, the forensic excavation and recovery and the outcomes of activities carried out during post-recovery analysis. A report on the functions carried out under this Part of the Bill is therefore already provided for and there is a requirement that this report be published and publicly available. The legislation also has two separate reporting mechanisms. The director must submit an annual report in section 23 and a final report in section 105. Both of these reports must be laid before the Oireachtas. In addition, section 106 provides that, following the submission of the final report of an intervention, the Minister shall "undertake a review of the implementation of this Act, in so far as it relates to the Office of the Director". This report, again, must be published.

The coroner does not have a specific function under this Bill. The Bill is designed to complement existing law, including the Coroners Act, and not replace it. We spoke of the significant change made following the publication of the general scheme concerning the removal of all restrictions on the jurisdiction of the coroner. Under this legislation, if evidence of violent or unnatural death emerges, the director must notify the coroner and An Garda Síochána immediately and, following an amendment made in the Dáil, the director's post-recovery analysis report must include whether any notification of evidence of violent or unnatural death was made to An Garda Síochána and the coroner. The report will clearly set out if the circumstances set out in the Bill were activated and the coroner needed to be informed, but anything beyond that would be for the coroner to report. It would not be appropriate for the director to report on the activities of another arm of the State.