Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the witnesses know, we sought public submissions on this. I do not know if they have had the opportunity to have sight of those submissions. They may not. A couple of issues were raised in those submissions. I would like if they could address them for the committee here today. We had a submission from Féileacáin, which deals with stillbirths and neonatal deaths. It has raised the issue regarding the registration of births being private. I know in his evidence this morning, Mr. Daly has spoken about having a mechanism where a public document would be available. Féileacáin suggested that it would be done the other way round and that the register would be available publicly for all registrations that take place from this point forward but parents would have the option to seek for that to remain private. The default would then be public rather than setting up a separate register again. In its submission, based on its own engagement with families, Féileacáin has a strong view that that approach would be more effective and would meet the needs of the vast majority of families rather than the proposed suggestion by the Department on the drafting of the legislation.

Féileacáin made a second suggestion with regard to the stillbirths register. The criteria are set down under section 7 of the Stillbirths Registration Act. This proposed legislation is updating that but Féileacáin made the point that where a birth meets the current definition, families should be able to voluntarily register a stillbirth that took place since 1994 onto the register that is being proposed, if it meets the criteria set out for weight and gestation.

We also received a submission from the Irish Hospice Foundation. Much of its submission is around training of staff. That is an ongoing issue between the Department and the HSE. The submission also referenced the facilities where registrations take place, and that there would be a private space for that. I know from registering births myself that in many centres where such registrations take place it is not a very private location. The Department of Social Protection is the officials' parent Department. At that Department's premises in County Roscommon, for example, where people get MyGovID, a room is available that can be screened off. Surely, with the centralisation of services approach, and with the HSE registrar's office, the General Register Office and the Department of Social Protection being under the one roof in Roscommon town - it is probably similar in other parts of the country - it should be possible to have a private space for these registrations to take place, rather than at a counter, which has been the situation historically. I ask for that to be looked at as well.

The Irish Hospice Foundation has also referenced the need to invest in a tell-us-once approach to registration of the details of a person's death. It made specific reference to the model in place in the UK. Again, this is maybe something that could be looked at on an administrative level. I do not think it requires a change in the legislation. I also ask for clarification on a final point. My understanding is that the heads make provision for this, but the final point made in the submission is that the registration of deaths where a coroner's inquest has not yet been concluded should be progressed, and it should be ensured that bereavement supports are incorporated into the registration system. My understanding is that is now the case, as proposed in this legislation, but the officials might clarify that.

As part of the Department's presentation, the point was made that maternity hospitals will have to register a death within five days, which will now be set out in statute for the first time. Most of them do this within two days at the moment. How is that done at present? Is it done electronically or physically? Will that now change as a result of this legislation? The current process is that families are written to. How is the register's office informed that it should issue that notification form to the next of kin at present? Do undertakers have a role in that regard or could they potentially have such a role? We are seeing more and more that families, where the death is not a sudden death, may not go through the traditional funeral arrangements. What role, if any, had undertakers historically or could they potentially have in future?