Coroner Service set-up ‘not fit for purpose’, says senior practitioner

The structure, organisation and financing of the Coroner Service is “not fit for purpose” and does not meet the needs of a modern, forensic, medical death investigation service, a senior coroner has said.

Prof Denis Cusack, speaking as senior coroner for Kildare and on behalf of the president of the Coroners Council and Coroners Society of Ireland, told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice the focus should be on making the system fit for purpose.

Prof Cusack said coroners had been seeking reform for years but, while some reform has been achieved, the structure, organisation and financing of the service was not fit for purpose and it was time to drive “innovative change”.

He set out seven headings for reform, including for reorganisation of coronial districts within a larger regional structure, appointment of coroners’ investigations officers and support service arrangements.

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There was, he considered, an “over-emphasis” on inquests, which, he noted, accounted for only a minority of coroners’ inquiries.

The service is one for the living as well as the dead and it must be balance the legal format with compassionate sensitivity, he said.

Among the problems confronting coroners was a shortage of pathologists, he noted. Corpses sometimes have to be moved 100km for a postmortem and that is “very hard on families”, he said.

Some families also face long delays, for reasons outside the control of coroners, in having inquests finalised, he added.

Doireann Ansbro, of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, said there was a pressing need for “root-and-branch” reform of the coronial service. Primarily the system must be properly resourced and put on a professional footing, and the council was urging all-party support for that, she said.

Fianna Fáil TD James Lawless, noting there was a lot of agreement concerning many issues, said the committee would publish a report in due course.