Cork coroner's office cost €1m last year

Cork City Coroner Philip Comyn. Picture: Dan Linehan

Cork City Council paid just over €1m last year in costs relating to coronial services.

Figures provided by Cork City Council to city councillors show a total of €287,000 was paid to the Cork City Coroner, Philip Comyn, in fees relating to deaths notified to the coroner’s office.

An annual stipend of €44,000 paid to the coroner is also listed in the report provided to councillors.

And €700,000 in associated costs, including morgue fees, pathology, histology and undertaking services, were also paid by the city council, according to the report by Adrienne Rodgers, who is director of services at Cork City Council’s Community, Culture & Placemaking department.

Ms Rodgers said: “The coroner is also entitled to claim a fee for each notified death deemed to be of natural causes, post-mortems called and inquests presided over. These fees are agreed between the Coroner’s Society of Ireland and the Department of Justice. They are claimed on a monthly basis and are collectively known as the coroner’s fee per item.” 

According to the information provided by Cork City Council, deaths reported to the coroner’s office which do not proceed to autopsy have a fee of €129.68, while those that proceed to autopsy have a fee of €188.54 per case. In cases where plenary inquests are held, a fee of €522.97 per case is applicable.

The report to city councillors outlined that Cork City Council fully funds two dedicated staff — one in the Coroner's Office and a second in City Hall.

It adds: “The council also provides additional supports and assistance from other staff members at as appropriate by way of administration, ICT and procurement.” 

The Irish Examiner revealed on Saturday that in a business case Mr Comyn submitted to the council in early 2019, he recommended employing six additional full-time staff equivalents by the end of the second quarter of the year.

However, there have been no additional full-time staff allocated to the office since then.

A deputy city coroner has been appointed in recent months.

The Cork City Coroner’s Office is the only full-time one in the State outside of Dublin. The Dublin Coroner’s Office has about 20 staff.