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

It is important to note that policy and operational responsibilities for the provision of post-mortem examination services to support the work of the Coroner Service are supported by several Departments and agencies.
The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is responsible for the legislation underpinning the work of coroners while the provision of post-mortem examination services is largely provided through health service personnel. In October 2024, following a wide-ranging consultation, the Government approved the drafting of a general scheme of a Bill to reform the provision of the coronial services in Ireland. Officials of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration are currently working on drafting heads of Bill in this regard. The legislation intends to streamline and reform the existing coronial service with a view to increasing efficiencies in the service and minimising the impact of the death investigation experience on the bereaved. A central aspect of this is the establishment of a national coronial agency under the aegis of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

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