Coroners Service
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-22
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Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG), Dún Laoghaire

As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has responsibility for coroners’ legislation and policy and is actively engaging with all relevant stakeholders, including my Department and the HSE. Since 2 January 2026, coronial post mortems have been provided by locum consultants recruited by the Department of justice, and the facilities and auxiliary staff of University Hospital Waterford have been provided to support that. The Department of justice has advised my Department that the service will be provided three days per week; that is, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Historically, the health service has assisted in the provision of coronial post mortem services on a sort of grace-and-favour basis. While consultant pathologists are employed by the HSE, coronial post mortems are carried out independently for the Department of justice. Obviously, that grace-and-favour model is not working. Hospitals are withdrawing from the provision of coronial post mortem examinations for a range of diverse and complex reasons, including a shortage of consultant pathologists willing to undertake that work, and increasing diagnostic workloads for an increasing population. My Department and the HSE will continue to engage constructively with the Department of justice to support a long-term resolution of the issue. All stakeholders remain committed to ensuring the continuity, quality and efficiency of coroner-directed post mortem services.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:32+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-22