Government and HSE working to reach 'urgent solution' to ensure autopsies can continue in Waterford

Consultant pathologists at University Hospital Waterford will withdraw from conducting coroner-requested autopsies at the morgue in the hospital from January 1

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan told Tipperary Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy that 'a collaborative approach between my department, the Department of Health, the HSE, UHW and its pathologists is clearly required'.

Two Government departments and the HSE are working to find a solution to ensure coroner-directed autopsies can continue to take place in Waterford, which is facing the possibility of long funeral delays next year.

Coroner-requested autopsies include deaths which may be suspicious, accidental, or unexpected, as well as maternal deaths.

The Irish Examiner revealed last week that consultant pathologists at University Hospital Waterford (UHW) will withdraw from conducting coroner-requested autopsies at the morgue in the hospital from January 1. This could end up in funeral delays for up to 700 people next year, unless a solution is found.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has now told Tipperary Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy that “a collaborative approach between my department, the Department of Health, the HSE, UHW and its pathologists is clearly required”.

“I am conscious that the situation in UHW, and other hospitals, has reached a critical juncture and an urgent solution is required,” he said.

"I have contacted [health] minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill with a view to engaging in such collaboration, and officials in my department are also engaged with colleagues in the Department of Health and the HSE with a view to finding a solution to the situation in UHW in advance of the January 1 deadline.” 

A statement from the Department of Justice to the Irish Examiner said it “is committed to working with all stakeholders to develop a sustainable solution".

While welcoming Mr O’Callaghan’s comment the situation at UHW was at a critical juncture, Mr Murphy warned: “With the deadline of January 1, 2026, fast approaching, there remains no confirmed alternative provision for coronial post-mortems across the South-East — covering Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Carlow — creating a real risk of a cliff-edge loss of service unless decisive action is taken immediately.” 

In a recent letter to Mr Murphy, UHW chief executive Ben O’Sullivan said the Department of Justice was told last November its consultant pathologists “would not be in a position to provide coroner-requested postmortems from January 2026”.

He said the hospital was “currently significantly understaffed” in terms of consultant pathologists and a recent workforce planning exercise indicated the coroner’s postmortem workload in UHW requires four whole-time equivalent pathologists specifically for the service.