Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I support the amendments. I remember very clearly the passage of the stillbirth registration legislation in the House some years ago. I was involved in the debate on the Bill and became very conscious of the difficulties experienced by parents of stillbirths and the mourning and trauma they experience, which is every bit as real and sometimes more severe than that associated with the death of a child born at full term.

In light of this, I ask the Minister to recognise such children by allowing them to be named and have their existence registered. The previous Government accepted in principle that the same status should be given to a stillborn child in all aspects of registration as is given to a person who dies at any other period of their life. That was the spirit of the Stillbirths Registration Act 1994 and the Labour Party amendment is consistent with that view.

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