Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast with Anton Savage, Cooney pointed out that the mortuary in Whitehall in Dublin was originally opened as a temporary measure when a facility that was planned for Marino did not go ahead.

Dr Linda Mulligan told the Irish Examiner that Ireland’s four full-time State Pathologists are facing increased pressure as more hospitals pull the plug on autopsy services.

Coroner-requested autopsies usually happen when the death was unusual or unexpected; often, these deaths occur under tragic circumstances