Hospital Services
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18
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Niall Collins (FF), Limerick County

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. At the outset, it is important to note that coroners are independent office holders whose core function is to investigate sudden and unexplained deaths so that a death certificate can be issued.
While the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, recognises the significance and sensitivity of the coronial investigation process for loved ones of the bereaved, neither the Minister nor his Department can interfere with a coroner in the exercise of his or her statutory death investigation function. It is important to clarify that pathologists, other than forensic pathologists in the Office of the State Pathologist, are not contracted to either the Department or to coroners.
I am aware that securing the provision of the post-mortem examination service for the coronial death investigation function is challenging and the Minister has been engaging with the Minister for Health to address the reasons behind these challenges. There are issues arising with respect to the conduct of port-mortem examinations within the pathology profession generally, including relating to training and recruitment as well as competing demands on pathologists in areas of diagnostic and research work.
With this in mind, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration in April 2022 established a standing committee on the provision of coroner-directed post-mortem examination services, membership of which consists of representatives from the Department of Health; the Health Service Executive; the Office of the State Pathologist, the Coroners Society of Ireland; the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; the Faculty of Pathology, Royal College of Physicians Ireland; and the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. This standing committee is an important forum with appropriate membership to discuss issues in relation to the autopsy service.
In November 2024, University Hospital Waterford, UHW, advised the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration that it would discontinue its post-mortem examination service to coroners from 1 January 2026. Approximately 700 coroner-directed post-mortem examinations take place in University Hospital Waterford each year. Coroner-directed post-mortem examinations for counties Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny and Carlow and part of County Tipperary are carried out in UHW. The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is conscious that the situation in UHW reached a critical juncture in January this year when pathologists employed at that location indicated that they were no longer available to carry out post-mortem examinations.
The Department engaged with a number of firms proposing to supply locums to provide the autopsy service in UHW and has finalised an interim approach on this basis. Provision of this service commenced on 2 January. This approach is a necessity to minimise any impact on bereaved family members who are engaging with the Coroner Service. However, a long-term sustainable solution is nevertheless required whereby locum pathologists are not relied upon to provide the autopsy service and instead this important service to the community is provided from within the pathology profession in Ireland generally.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-18