Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 9, line 23, after “child” to insert the following:"and in those circumstances an tArd-Chláraitheoir shall register the name of the father and his last known address".

Section 6 provides that it is the duty of both parents to comply with the registration of the birth of a child, notwithstanding that they are not married to each other. It goes on to provide that if the mother attends alone, she must provide information as to the father's name and contact details. There are a number of exceptions to that. The first exception is that she does not know who the father is.Nemo dat quod non habet- if one does not know the identity of the father, obviously one cannot provide that information.
The second exception is where she does not know the whereabouts of the father. In that case, nothing at all about the father appears on the certificate. It seems only reasonable and fair that, at a minimum, the father's name appears, even if she does not know his whereabouts, and that the last known address be put on the certificate, as provided for in the amendment. If that is a bridge too far, at a minimum, his name should appear on the certificate.