The Office of the State Pathologist (OSP) dealt with 400 cases last year – down from 417 in 2022, but a higher figure than in 2021.

The office performs post-mortem examination (PMEs) in criminal, suspicious or unusual deaths, known as State cases.

According to its annual report for 2023, just under half of the cases it dealt with last year were State cases.

Scene of death

Only four of these cases involved a visit to the scene of death, compared with 26 the previous year. The office says that the fall is due to advanced technologies used by crime-scene investigators.

The office also carried out 161 non-suspicious PMEs at the direction of the Dublin District Coroner.

The report points out that, as the OSP does not have its own mortuary facility, pathologists must travel to various HSE-run mortuaries around the country to perform State forensic cases.

“The logistics of organising this are becoming increasingly challenging, as the HSE mortuaries are also dealing with increased workloads, staff shortages, and resource issues,” the report states.

Remains

There were 36 cases of skeletonised remains – the office found that 17 of these were animal bones and 19 were human bones.

In 11 cases where human remains were identified, the cases were classified as ancient or historic and were referred to the National Museum of Ireland.

Six cases were classified as modern, and of possible forensic significance, while two are pending further investigations.

2023 marked Professor Linda Mulligan’s third year as Chief State Pathologist. The office had a full team for most of the year, with a Chief State Pathologist, two State Pathologists, two Deputy State Pathologists (one of whom departed in November 2023), and a locum State pathologist based in Cork.