Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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300. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the progress the Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2016 in view of the fact that its passage has been noted as urgent by him and his predecessor; the reason for the delays in the progress of this Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30139/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Coroners (Amendment) Bill, approved by Government in May 2017 for drafting, is a priority for me and for the Government. That is reflected by its inclusion on the Government’s list of priority legislation for publication during this Oireachtas session.

My officials have been working very intensively on this important Bill, together with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, and the drafting is now well advanced. I expect to bring the Bill to Government very shortly for agreement to publish.

I agree that it has taken considerably longer than I had wished or intended, to finalise the Bill for publication. The reasons for this are genuine. It is a complex Bill, both in drafting terms and on the substance. The Deputy will be aware that this Bill will, among other matters, make provision regarding coronial investigation of maternal deaths, in response to the Private Member's Bill tabled by Deputy Clare Daly in that regard. Both Deputy Daly's Bill, and much of the work done by my Department on the reform of coronial law, refer to the text of the Coroners Bill 2007, which provided for a comprehensive reform of coronial law and of the administrative structure of the coroner service in Ireland. That administrative reform requires significant updating and is not yet ready to proceed. That means that we have had to translate the key reforms of coronial law that we are now seeking to make, from the structure and language of the 2007 Bill, into the existing legislation, which dates from 1962.  I am satisfied that the Bill I intend to bring forward will fully meet these rather demanding technical drafting requirements, but they have slowed down the drafting process and rendered it more complex.

In addition, the Deputy will be aware there is a huge amount of overall legislative activity – and even of priority legislation - at present in relation both to Private Members’ Bills, and to the Government’s legislative programme, across a large number of fronts. The volume of legislative work means that the resource of the specialists who are available to do it is often spread very thinly.

My officials are currently finalising the Bill together with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, and I expect to seek Government agreement to publish before the end of this month.  

I intend to move the Bill as early as possible after publication, so that, with the cooperation of all sides, we can facilitate its swift passage through the Houses.