Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I thank Deputy Hayes for raising this important and sensitive issue. I appreciate it is of enormous difficulty and concern to many families. I am aware the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection examined this issue in the past.

The provisions and procedures governing the registration of deaths in Ireland are contained in Part 5 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and are as follows. Where a death occurs in the State it is the duty of a qualified informant, usually 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.

Section 38 of that Act makes provision for the registration of a death of an Irish citizen domiciled in the Statein 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, that is, 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 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. When an Irish citizen dies abroad, the death is usually 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 those reasons alone there is no necessity for the death to be registered in this 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 have Irish citizenship is very large. This would have implications both for the registration process itself 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 2011 was 190 and 210 in 2010. Those figures refer to cases where consular assistance was provided and probably represent only a proportion of deaths of Irish persons who die abroad each year. My understanding is the majority of the people who died abroad were travelling abroad for leisure or business purposes. I am conscious each figure on a death represents a tragedy and because the death takes place away from home, it is an additional heartache for the family.

A death certificate is readily available in the overwhelming majority of these cases. However, I appreciate 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. I am aware the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection has recommended in the past amending the current legislation to enable deaths of Irish citizens who have died abroad be registered here. Any broadening of the current provisions requires careful consideration given the number of people who live and die in other countries and who have, or are entitled to have, Irish citizenship. I hope to be in a position to introduce legislation on this and other aspects of civil registration in 2012.

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