Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I am delighted to have the opportunity to raise this issue. It came to public attention about two weeks ago that foreign couples who married in their countries' embassies in Ireland had contracted invalid and illegal marriages. Naturally, this came as a great shock to more than 3,000 non-nationals who had married during the past three years in the embassies of their countries. Those affected came not only from European Union member states but also from non-EU states. Everybody who married in a foreign embassy in this country was affected.

The situation arose from a requirement under the Civil Registration Act, which was passed in 2004 and came into force in November 2007. From that date onwards there has been a requirement to have an official registrar attend the embassies where marriages take place. Failing that, under Irish law the marriage is invalid and declared null and void and illegal. The same situation operates with regard to international law because a marriage must be valid in the country in which it takes place. This means that even though the foreign nationals may think the marriage is valid in the eyes of their own countries' law it cannot be so because the requirements of the country in which the marriage took place have not been fulfilled.

We have a right legal mess and as a result 3,000 couples find themselves in a complete legal limbo. In a situation like that all sorts of legal problems are created for the couples and their children. How can they get their birth certificates registered? Is there a single parent, or are there two, in terms of the marriage? How can one deal with the legal issues in that respect? It seems incredible that it took the best part of three years for the Irish Government to inform the embassies of the legal situation. I understand it only came to light when the General Register Office wrote to the embassies last month - approximately three years later - to inform them of the situation that now exists.

We have to do our best with the situation, which is as it is. I understand that complex legislation will be required to remedy this intricate problem. There is a danger that we will pass legislation that regularises the situation from here on in, without being sure that it regularises the situation that existed in the interim limbo period after these marriage ceremonies were performed. What are the implications of the actions that have been taken since such ceremonies by couples who were certain they were married, but were not? They may have entered into numerous contracts, etc. Some form of retrospective legislative decision-making will have to take place. That is always very dangerous in constitutional terms. I would like the Minister of State to tell the House what immediate steps the Government plans to take. When is it proposed to bring legislation before the House? Has the Government received the advice of the Attorney General on the ramifications of this problem?

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to have an opportunity to address the House on this issue on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. If a marriage performed in Ireland is to be recognised by Irish law, it must be conducted in accordance with the Civil Registration Act 2004. This means, among other things, that the marriage must be performed by a registered solemniser under that Act. Only ordained ministers of religion, or registrars employed by the Health Service Executive, are eligible for registration as solemnisers. Foreign diplomatic personnel are not eligible under the present law. While marriages performed by embassies in Ireland have never been recognised in Irish law, they may be recognised in the laws of the states whose embassies perform them. In international law, a marriage performed at an embassy will be internationally recognised only if it is recognised in the country in which it is performed. For this reason, a state proposing to perform marriages at its embassies abroad should ideally consult the relevant local authorities in advance to establish whether such marriages will be recognised in all states, or only in the state whose embassy performs the marriage. As Irish law does not recognise or regulate embassy marriages, we have no statistics on how many such marriages have been performed here. Under the Vienna Convention, embassies here are obliged to respect Irish laws and regulations, just as Irish embassies abroad are required to respect local laws. Many countries will not regard as valid a marriage performed by a foreign diplomat or consul in their territory. This means the marriage would be unlikely to be regarded as valid in any country other than the diplomat's sending State.

Nothing in Irish law authorises an Irish diplomatic or consular officer to perform a marriage ceremony on the premises of an Irish diplomatic mission. When it recently came to the attention of the Department of Foreign Affairs that a number of embassies have been performing marriages, the Department contacted the Registrar General and the then Department of Social and Family Affairs and advised all embassies of the requirements of the law governing marriages in Ireland. A number of embassies recently raised concerns regarding the non-recognition of embassy marriages. The embassies acknowledged the right of the Irish authorities to regulate this area as they consider appropriate and said no further marriages were being arranged. However, they were concerned about the position of those who had contracted embassy marriages in the past. They requested the assistance of the Irish authorities in this respect. The Department of Foreign Affairs issued a note to all resident embassies in Dublin informing them of the legal requirements for the conduct of marriages in Ireland. The note stated:

There is no provision in the Civil Registration Act for the recognition of diplomatic or consular officers as solemnisers of marriage in Ireland. Accordingly, marriages performed by diplomatic or consular officers at embassies or any other locations are not recognised in Ireland as valid marriages.

The matter is being reviewed by the Departments of Social Protection and Foreign Affairs to consider what, if any, assistance can be provided to couples who have encountered practical difficulties as a result of the non-recognition in Irish law of marriages performed at embassies here. The Department of Foreign Affairs will be in contact with embassies as soon as these consultations have concluded.