Patrick O'Connor, a solicitor and coroner based in Mayo, said that Ireland's daily reported coronavirus deaths "do not have a scientific basis".
The Irish Government has reported 4,831 deaths linked to the virus since the outbreak of the pandemic and O'Connor, who serves as public information officer for the Coroner's Society of Ireland, said that he questions the accuracy of NPHET's reporting when the virus is recorded as the principal cause of death in terminally ill patients.
He stressed that there was a difference between dying from the virus and dying with it.
"When a person is suffering from a number of medical conditions which will or may lead to their death at some short time in the future, if they are unlucky enough to be infected by the COVID virus then at death if they prove to be COVID positive in a test, it is that which is recorded as the principal cause of death — even though that person may have been terminally ill with a short life-expectancy prior to such testing," O'Connor told the Irish Independent.
Meanwhile, Kildare coroner Dr. Denis Cusack said that 99% of the 230 coronavirus deaths reported in Kildare had underlying conditions - a total of 228 people.
Of those 228 deaths, 132 had a cardiovascular condition, 120 had dementia, 58 had respiratory problems, 36 had cancer, 30 had a neurological condition, 25 had diabetes, and 23 had kidney problems.