Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

It is, but there are particular sensitivities surrounding this issue. An tArd-Chláraitheoir has advised me that there are approximately 2,000 re-registrations every year arising out of these issues. The trend has changed considerably. In the main, the initial registration is where both parents are registered and that is facilitated through the hospitals and other facilities at the time of birth. Moreover, there has been a change of psyche with regard to including the father's name when registering a child but my difficulty in making this compulsory is that there are other people involved in that relationship as well as a father.

Not having a presumption in law that a man, other than the husband of a married woman, is a father creates major difficulties. The ethos of section 22 is to encourage and facilitate the registration of a child by both parents. We would all like to see that commitment as far as practicable but we all know of other cases, and I prefer not to outline them on the floor of the House, where that is neither feasible nor possible. To imply a compulsory registration might create greater difficulties and a situation where we would be discouraging men from putting their names down as father of the child. As the Deputy is aware, a mother has access to the court and to a statutory declaration if she wants the father's name to be registered on the birth certificate.

I appreciate this is an issue for further discussion in the future but what is being provided for in section 22 adequately reflects what we are proposing to do. Unlike some of my other colleagues, if it is the case that we need to reflect on and change it, I will have no problem doing that.

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