A Longford councillor is calling for some members of the Gardai to be allowed pronounce death.
Councillor Paul Ross asked at a recent health forum meeting about the obligations of a GP attending a sudden death to make a formal declaration.
He was told there isn't any specific obligation for GP's to attend in the case of sudden death, but that some advanced paramedics are being trained to be allowed carry out the formality.
The Fine Gael councillor says he welcomes the fact that some paramedics could be allowed carry out the function but that the pool of people available needs to be widened further.
He says his questions arose from a sudden death he'd been made aware of, and the distress caused when a doctor couldn't be found to make the pronouncement.
