County manager Peter Hynes said at Mayo County Council’s annual budget meeting this week that he would look into the cost of paying coroners in the county. His remarks were made in response to a call by Independent councillor Frank Durcan for an investigation into the cost involved. The Castlebar based councillor questioned the figures paid out to the different coroners and how there could be such wildly different numbers of inquests held in different areas of the county.
“In the south Mayo district there were 139 inquests held by the coroner, while in the other areas there were only six suspicious deaths, it warrants investigation,” Cllr Durcan said.
Cllr Durcan also told the meeting that the coroner in south Mayo cost €96,000 a year, while in north Mayo the coroner costs were only €25,000 and in east Mayo €18,000. Mr Hynes told Cllr Durcan he would look into coroner costs for him.
