Lack of recruitment in autopsy services causing increased funeral wait times, coroners warn 

Strain on the sector's inability to replace outgoing staff nearly forced the bodies of children who died in stillbirth to be exported out of Ireland. File picture

A lack of funding and an inability to recruit for autopsy services is causing increased funeral waiting times across Ireland, according to the president of the Irish Coroner’s Society Denis McCauley.

In recent weeks, the forecasted retirement of an advanced mortuary technician in St Columcille’s Hospital mortuary in Co Dublin meant the facility was forced to temporarily close.

“An advanced mortuary technician had retired, and they hadn't replaced her, and all of a sudden, in one particular area, there were suddenly no PMs (post-mortems) being done in that area, and bodies had to be moved around,” he said.

“There are areas all over the country where funerals are being delayed, that classically would be Dublin, then the South East.

“But all over the areas, there are systems that are functioning under great strain, both in relation to post-mortem pathologists, and even in one situation where the known retirement of an advanced mortuary technician was not planned for and caused short-term chaos in an area.

“It only highlights the situation that this is not a system that's appreciated or planned.” 

In response to queries from the Irish Examiner, the HSE said the vacant post had been offered to a successful candidate.

In a March report to the HSE focused on the state of play across the State’s different pathology services, a survey was conducted across different units. 

Cork University Hospital warned that there was “insufficient space for current workload and staff levels". 

“The service is operating under significant and escalating capacity pressures, with infrastructure that is no longer fit for purpose,” the report read.

“We are operating at full capacity and are unable to safely accommodate additional service developments, staff or equipment.”

A lack of technological innovation was also flagged as a major stress point.

The pathology unit in St Vincent’s Hospital in Co Dublin raised alarm over “critical infrastructure constraints, including inadequate laboratory space, insufficient office accommodation for clinical, scientific, and administrative staff, and a lack of appropriate storage capacity for blocks and slides."

Tallaght University Hospital said it had been without a full complement of staff since 2019 amid a "chronic national shortage" of trained staff.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan previously wrote to health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (who both share joint responsibility for the sector), and articulated fears that traditional societal norms around funerals could be upended if immediate resolutions weren't put in place.

Strain on the sector's inability to replace outgoing staff nearly forced the bodies of children who died in stillbirth to be exported out of Ireland.

In a letter dated January 5, 2026, Dublin’s Chief Coroner Myra Cullinane wrote to Ms Carroll MacNeill, raising alarm bells over the Coombe Hospital's inability to conduct perinatal post-mortems.

“The Chief Clinical Operating Officer of the Coombe Hospital advises that attempts to recruit a perinatal pathologist and to seek assistance from other centres have met with no success,” Ms Cullinane wrote.

“Where a coroner’s postmortem examination is required in relation to any perinatal death occurring at the Coombe Hospital, I will have no option but to seek extra jurisdictional assistance which will necessitate the transfer of infant remains out of State.”

HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster wrote to the health minister three weeks later that a €3m interim solution had been reached.