Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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132. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans, once access to the records and indexes in the Government Records Office, GRO, is made available at www.irishgenealogy.ie, to provide free access, without charge, to these records and indexes, just as records currently accessible at the site are; what the fee regime will be if not; if she will acknowledge that the introduction of a fee for access to full records would present a serious impediment to the accessible, open nature of the site; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5598/15]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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I have asked questions about this before and I just wanted to expand on it. What will be the format when the records from the General Register Office, GRO, are placed on the www.irishgenealogy.iewebsite? Will the records be pay-per-view or will they remain as the genealogy website is now, which is free to view? Has a decision been made?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The website www.irishgenealogy.ieoperates under the auspices of my Department. The national genealogy policy was approved by the Government in December 2012 and my Department has been engaged in its implementation since that time. The aim of the policy is to help bring coherence to the area, particularly for persons with no genealogical research experience. At present, no charges are levied for accessing the information available on the www.irishgenealogy.iewebsite and I have no plans to introduce a fee regime when the GRO records and indexes are made available.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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That is a change from the current position, as there is a charge if somebody goes to the research room on Werburgh Street. If it remains the case, it is a very welcome development. That would contrast with Northern Ireland, where there are charges. I can take that as the decision on the approach. When is it likely that the records - as opposed to the indexes, which have seen problems - will be put online? Will they be put up incrementally, with births, marriages and deaths being dealt with separately? It may be possible to have an incremental approach if all the records are not available at the same time.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There was an issue with the data, as the Deputy knows, where the register entries include complete information on a life event, as one would expect to see in a copy of a birth, death or marriage certificate.

Online availability of historical register data through www.irishgenealogy.ieis provided for in section 27 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014. The provision relating to the historical register entries, along with the bulk of the Bill, will be the subject of a commencement order by the Minister for Social Protection in 2015. Section 17 amends section 61 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and provides for public access via the above portal to register entries in respect of births more than 100 years ago, marriages more than 75 years ago and deaths more than 50 years ago. Currently, a member of the public cannot search the register but may apply to the register general, a superintendent register, a register or an authorised officer to search the registers on his or her behalf. The provisions in the 2014 Act will allow a member of the public to search these historical registers online for the first time. I do not know if that addresses the Deputy's question.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Will the entire collection of records go online at the same time, or will it be an incremental process? I know there is some work to be done with one of the sets, but some are pretty much ready to roll at this stage. Is it intended to do this as each set becomes available? Has a decision been made?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I am not sure of the answer to that. I would expect it to be on an incremental basis, but I will revert to the Deputy on the timeframe involved.