The lack of pathologists in the Mid-West is a major concern according to Labour leader and Tipperary TD Alan Kelly.
He has been informed by a local GP that there will be no post-mortems carried out until after December 28th in the area.
Deputy Kelly says this is completely unacceptable for families in North Tipperary, Clare and Limerick that lose a loved one where a post mortem is required.
“This is completely unacceptable.
“I understand that basically a number of people who do this work are on leave – they are of course entitles to their leave – but surely there has to be some form of forward planning to avoid such a situation.
“Also I understand that there simply isn’t enough staff in the Mid-West in this discipline to be able to do this work compared to other parts of the country.”
Deputy Kelly has raised the issue with both the Department of Justice and the HSE.
“My understanding is that locums were covering this work already.
“These locums have now gone on holidays so it’s a case of trying to find even more locums to cover the locums that were doing the work in the first place.
“Obviously a complete breakdown here from a staffing point of view.”
