Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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940. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of staff employed in each coroner’s court; and the average number of deaths dealt with in the past five years in tabular form. [42822/21]

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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941. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of vacant positions in each coroner's court and the plans in place to fill any such vacancies. [42823/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 940 and 941 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, coroners are independent quasi-judicial officials exercising their functions under the law, the Coroners Act 1962 as amended. Neither I nor my Department have any role in the conduct of the functions by coroners. The coroners’ core function is to investigate deaths required to be reported to him or her by law, including sudden and unexplained deaths so that a final death certificate can be issued.

There are coroners working in all 38 coronial districts. The names of coroners, their deputies and the coronial districts they act in are published and available on the website www.coroners.ie. There are no current vacancies for coroners in any district.

Coroners report on their activities each year and the statistics in regard to deaths reported, post-mortem examinations directed and inquests held are published by my Department. The details up to 2020 are available on www.coroners.ie.