Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

From the Finance Bill point of view that is fine. The exemption will continue. It seems very odd to have a date at the end of September 2022 for deciding who is eligible for the ex gratia payment. It is very likely that some people will discover that there were illegal birth registrations after that date. The Birth Information and Tracing Bill is only really happening now and many people still do not have all their information and records and will not know whether they might have been the subject of an illegal birth registration. It is clearly not the direct responsibility of the Minister for Finance. However, it does not make any sense. I accept the Minister has put a caveat on it, but that seems entirely arbitrary. It does not seem to make any sense that he would set that date. Surely anybody who is found to be at any point - certainly in the next couple of years or so - the subject of an illegal birth registration should be entitled to thatex gratia payment. I understand, at least, that the section in the Finance Bill does not have a cut-off date.