Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I reiterate that, in her heart, she supports this amendment. Members on all sides are campaigning for recognition of our native language within the European Union. What we are seeking here is recognition of the language when births are registered. While I appreciate the Minister's statement that it is possible to register in either language, people should have the facility to do so in both. It is not beyond the bounds of the ingenuity of legislators to make provision for the registration of people's names in both languages. We are not talking about the registration of two names, it is the same name in two different languages. It is not beyond the ability of the parliamentary counsel or legislators to facilitate this.

Our legislation facilitates two languages. Why can we not register our births in two languages? I do not have the skills to do so. However, Daniel Neville-Dónal Ó Niaidh are the same name. If one must use both officially, so be it. It is merely the same name in two languages. I do not believe it would cause a major furore to register Daniel Neville-Dónal Ó Niaidh as my official name. If in future I had to use both forms in that way, I would not see a difficulty. My name is registered as Daniel Neville but I use the form of Dan Neville. People, within their family circles, decide what versions of their names to use. For the official registration of births, however, we use Daniel Neville and William Penrose. The Irish translation of Deputy Penrose's name is difficult to pronounce. It is disappointing the Minister cannot facilitate the registration of the name as Gaeilge agus as Béarla.

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