Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Ultimately, it is the duty of the parents to register the birth of the child. We are all agreed on that. There is a three month period during which registration can occur. The necessary information required to authenticate the identity of the child is important. That can be done at the registrar's office. The situation has changed to allow a registrar's office to be used. Equally, the larger maternity hospitals will facilitate this. It is not going to be a huge encumbrance on many people to register their baby when it is born.

To make it optional, as proposed by the amendment, would undermine the importance of the registration of the birth as the key factor for setting up and maintaining a lifelong personal history. I appreciate the technology is there. Technology will facilitate better customer service and support structures, but ultimately I do not believe it presents a great difficulty for a parent to register the child's birth in person, given that this can now be facilitated in any registrar's office and in the larger maternity hospitals.

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