DEPUTY STATE Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis has described as “fantastic” the news that a state-of-the art facility for the Office of the State Pathologist and the Dublin City Mortuary is to be completed.
Construction of a multimillion-euro facility in north Dublin began in August 2010, but works ground to a halt three months later when the builder went into receivership.
The Government has now announced that funding to complete the facility, known as the “medico-legal centre”, is being provided as part of a €190 million investment package in a range of Garda and courts capital projects.
“This is extremely good news for the State Pathologist’s Office,” Dr Curtis said.
“It will help us to provide the service.”
When completed, the new centre, on the grounds of the Dublin fire brigade training centre in Marino, will provide a range of facilities for staff at the mortuary and the pathologists’ office – including laboratories, postmortem rooms and modern mortuary facilities.
The State Pathologist’s Office is currently in prefabricated buildings on the grounds of the fire brigade training centre, where it has been since 2003.
Dr Curtis, State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy and the other Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Khalid Jabbar, are based there.
Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence Alan Shatter said the facility would play a vital role in the death investigation process and provide “enhanced facilities for staff, professionals and members of the public”.
He said it was expected the projects would get under way next year and that construction would continue during 2014 and 2015.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the project would have to be tendered for in the normal way under EU public procurement rules and that it was not possible in advance of such a tender to indicate its likely cost.
There is no dedicated State pathologists’ mortuary; postmortems are carried out at the Dublin City Mortuary or at hospitals.
Approximately €2.8 million has been spent on the project to date.