Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, a concern to many families.

The provisions and procedures governing the registration of deaths in Ireland are contained in Part 5 of the Civil Registration Act 2004. Where a death occurs in the State, it is the duty of a qualified informant, normally a relative of the deceased, to attend at a registrar's office and register the death on foot of a certificate of cause of death supplied by a registered medical practitioner. Where a death is referred to a coroner, the death is registered by a registrar on foot of a coroner's certificate.

In general, only deaths which occur within the State are registerable. However, section 39 provides for exceptions such as the deaths of members of the Garda Síochána or the Permanent Defence Force or of the spouse or specified members of the family of such a member outside the State while the member is serving outside the State as such member. It also provides for deaths of persons on board an Irish aircraft or an Irish ship, deaths of Irish citizens on board a foreign ship or a foreign aircraft travelling to or from a port, or an airport, as the case may be, in the State.

Section 38 makes provision for the registration of a death of an Irish citizen domiciled in the State in certain specific circumstances. Where the death of an Irish citizen domiciled in the State occurs abroad, the death may be registered here if there was not at the time of the death, a system of registration of deaths in the place where the death occurred, or such a system that applied to such a death, or it is not possible to obtain copies of or extracts from civil records of the death such as a death certificate. In other words, if the death could not be registered or if a death certificate could not be obtained, the death can be registered here. Although the number of such cases is extremely small, it is considered reasonable to make provision for them.

The reasoning behind these provisions is simply to ensure that where deaths cannot be registered abroad, they can be registered here and that in all cases the relatives of the deceased have available to them a certificate of the death for personal, legal and administrative purposes. Usually, when an Irish citizen dies abroad the death is registered by the civil authorities of the place where the death occurred and a certified copy of the death registration is obtainable. This certificate, translated, if necessary, is normally sufficient for all legal and administrative purposes here and for these reasons alone there is no necessity for the death to be registered in the State.

Any broadening of the current provisions will require careful consideration. It will be appreciated that the number of people who live and die in other countries and who have or are entitled to Irish citizenship is very large. This would have implications for the registration process and for the vital statistics relating to deaths which are derived from registered events. The number of Irish citizens who are domiciled in Ireland and who die abroad is relatively small in the context of total deaths occurring here in any given year. The figures available in respect of some recent years are as follows; 2007, 150; 2008, 205; 2009, 243; 2010, 210 and for the first quarter of 2011, 56. My understanding is that the vast majority of these people were travelling abroad for leisure or business purposes. The Minister is conscious that each figure represents a tragedy and because the deaths occur away from home it is an additional heartache for the family.

As I stated, a death certificate is readily available in the overwhelming majority of these cases. However, the Government appreciates that many families of the deceased feel strongly that by registration of the death, the person's death is given recognition in his or her own country and also that this fact would assist during a period of considerable grief. The Department will, therefore, have this matter reviewed in the context of future amendments to the Civil Registration Act 2004. A general review of the provisions of the Civil Registration Act 2004 is expected to be completed later this year.

It might be possible to take a look at what our nearest neighbours have done in regard to legislation in this area and I will bring what the Deputy had to say in this regard to the Minister's attention.

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