Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I support amendment No. 16, which proposes to give people an option. I am surprised the Minister opposes it. She suggested on Committee Stage that if the amendment was accepted, it would lead to serious logistical problems but that does not make sense. People should be entitled to register their names in Irish and English. People move to Ireland from different backgrounds and they may use a different alphabet, for example. We should not return to the Ellis Island scenario when the official at the desk decided how one's name should be spelt. The father of John Kerry, who is campaigning to be the Democratic candidate in the US presidential election, is reputed to have picked his surname off a map. People should have the option of registering their names in Irish and that should be encouraged. The Minister's opposition to the amendment does not make sense, considering she hails from an Irish-speaking background. This will send the wrong signal and people should be encouraged rather than discouraged to use the language.

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