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coroners
Over €815,000 paid to coroners by local authorities in one year
The largest retainers – amounting to more than €44,000 – paid by a local authority was in Cork.
OVER €815,000 WAS paid out by local authorities to coroners in 2012, according to figures released by Minister Alan Shatter.
There are currently 41 coroners who provide a service for 47 jurisdictions with some covering two jurisdictions.
Of these, 16 were appointed through the Local Appointments Commission process and 24 are engaged on an acting basis and all are required to have been either a lawyer or a doctor for more than five years.
Shatter said the remuneration for a coroner is made up of a basic retainer, which is intended to cover, for example, on-call duty and office expenses, and a fee per case which is paid in relation to work carried out on the following basis:
- Death reported: €129.68;
- Death certified following post mortem: €188.54; and
- Death certified following post mortem and inquest: €522.97.
This table shows retainers paid in each district in 2012:
The largest sum of over €44,000 was paid in Cork, with €21,774 paid in 15 of the coronial jurisdictions.
In response to a number of parliamentary questions, Shatter said the Coroner’s Bill is in the course of being reviewed in his department and “in that context all governance and administrative matters in relation to coroners will be examined to determine how reform can be achieved in a cost effective manner”.
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