16B.—(1) A person specified in subsection (3) or (4) shall, as soon as practicable after becoming aware of a reportable death and unless he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that the death has already been reported to the coroner by another person specified in whichever of those subsections is appropriate, report, or cause to be reported, the death to the coroner for the district in which the body is lying.

(2) Any person who knowingly contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a class B fine.

(3) The following persons are required to report a death under subsection (1) to the coroner concerned:

(a) any medical practitioner, nurse or midwife who had responsibility for, or involvement in, the treatment or care of the deceased person in the period immediately before his or her death or who was present at his or her death;

(b) any registered medical practitioner who examines the body of the deceased person after death;

(c) any paramedic or advanced paramedic, registered with the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council under the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order 2000 (S.I. No. 109 of 2000), who had responsibility for, or involvement in, the care of the deceased person in the period immediately before his or her death or who was present at his or her death;

(d) the funeral undertaker responsible for the disposal of the body of the deceased person;

(e) the person in charge of a mortuary in which the body of the deceased person is lying or comes to lie;

(f) an occupier of a house or other dwelling, including a mobile dwelling, in which the deceased person was residing at the time of his or her death;

(g) the person in charge of any public or private institution or premises, or a part of such institution or premises, in which the deceased person was residing or receiving treatment or care at the time of his or her death;

(h) a person who had care of the deceased person immediately before his or her death;

(i) where the deceased person was in State custody or detention immediately before his or her death, a person who, pursuant to an enactment or otherwise, had responsibility for the deceased person;

(j) the person in charge of an aircraft, ship or other vessel landing or arriving in the State on which the deceased person was travelling at the time of his or her death;

(k) a registrar of deaths within the meaning of the Act of 2004 to whom particulars of the death of the deceased person are given for the purposes of the performance by the registrar of deaths of his or her functions under that Act.

(4) If the reportable death concerned is that of a stillborn child or a death intrapartum, any medical practitioner, nurse or midwife who had responsibility for, or involvement in, the treatment or care of the woman concerned in the period immediately before or after the delivery of the stillborn child, or who was present at the delivery, is required to report, or cause to be reported, the death under subsection (1) to the coroner concerned.

(5) The obligation imposed on a person by subsection (1) shall be deemed to be discharged if he or she reports the death as soon as practicable after becoming aware of it to a member of the Garda Síochána.

(6) It shall be the duty of a member of the Garda Síochána, on becoming aware of a reportable death (whether or not reported to him or her under subsection (5)), to report the death as soon as practicable to the coroner for the district in which the body is lying.

(7) Where the person reporting a death under subsection (1) is a registered medical practitioner who—

(a) provided treatment to the deceased person prior to his or her death,

(b) is required to report the death under that subsection in circumstances to which subsection (4) applies, or

(c) examined the body of the deceased person after death,

the registered medical practitioner shall, at the same time as reporting the death or as soon as practicable thereafter, inform the coroner concerned as to whether he or she can sign and give a medical certificate stating to the best of his or her knowledge and belief the cause of death for the purposes of the registration of the death under the Act of 2004.

(8) Any person who reports a death pursuant to this section shall give to the coroner (or, as the case may be, a member of the Garda Síochána) all such information available to him or her as may assist the coroner in the performance of his or her functions under this Act.]