Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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308. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce legislation to address the issue of maternal deaths; the aims and objectives of the proposed legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30433/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will appreciate that in general, the issue of maternal deaths is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Health. However, I do have plans to introduce legislation to strengthen the existing law on coronial investigation of maternal deaths.

The Coroners (Amendment) Bill, already approved for drafting by the Government in May 2017, is a very important Bill, which I expect to bring to Government shortly for agreement to publish.

This Bill will, among other key reforms of coronial law, introduce mandatory reporting, post-mortem examination and inquest, in cases of direct or indirect maternal death. It will also extend the legal aid provisions, introduced for certain inquests in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013, to a family member of the deceased at an inquest into a maternal death.

This will ensure clarity for responsible persons, including hospital authorities, and will support the development of transparent and accountable oversight for checking and investigating certain types of death. Most importantly, it will provide clarity and transparency for bereaved families. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution made by Deputy Clare Daly to the Bill, through her earlier Private Member's Bill.

 It will be an offence for a responsible person not to report a mandatory reportable death to the coroner. There will also be improved provisions on the reporting of certain peri-natal and infant deaths, to support prompt and transparent provision of information by health and other authorities to bereaved families. More broadly, the Bill will also update and strengthen the legal powers available to coroners regarding reporting, post-mortem and inquest of unnatural deaths; and including more robust powers to compel attendance by witnesses and the production of documents at inquest. The Bill will also allow a wider scope for inquests, from investigating the immediate cause of death to establishing the circumstances in which the death occurred.   

The public importance of effective and transparent independent investigation in such cases is obvious. In addition, these measures will strengthen our compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.