Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Senator McCarthy made a very important point regarding the legislation. Members know the legislation dates back to the 1840s and Senator McCarthy said it was difficult for Parliamentary Counsel to make sense of it and it is very difficult for Senators and Deputies to make head or tail of it, given that to read this Bill one has to have in one's possession all the other Acts relevant to it. This emphasises the need for a consolidated Bill. However, I welcome this Bill as previous changes to the civil registration code have been made as an add on to social welfare Bills — I know this from my time as spokesperson in the Dáil — which was completely unacceptable.

This is a very important Bill. We need to take time to go through it as best we can on the basis that we are setting a standard for the next ten to 15 years and must get it right. There must be quite a pause between Second, Committee and Report Stages, and I encourage the Government to allow for that.

I will not repeat all the points made on the issue of unmarried fathers. It is important to note that substantial changes have occurred in the past 20 years or so. Before the Status of Children Act 1987 an unmarried father could not obtain guardianship of his child, however that Act ensured that with a court order an unmarried father could gain guardianship. Since that there have been further developments in the Children's Act 1997, and a father and a mother can, on agreement, without going to court obtain that. That has been an important development. I agree with Senators Norris, McCarthy, White and others that we have to go further. This Bill gives us the opportunity to give unmarried fathers automatic rights of guardianship which can then be tested. The way to do that is at the initial stage when compiling the information for the birth certificate. The Bill provides an opportunity to make those types of reform. The AMEN group has made a detailed submission on this matter to the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Coughlan, and to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell. I ask them to consider it, given the high percentage of births to unmarried men and women — a third of all births are outside wedlock. We have to recognise that, and recognise the rights of fathers, who have been completely ignored up until the last 15 years. I still think we have a great deal more to do in this area.

On that issue, I find it quite strange that the only person who can apply for the child benefit payment is the mother. I know this from personal experience in recent months and one of the reasons I am so fond of the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, is the substantial largesse in child benefit before the last election, which benefited me in particular. In this day and age it is quite sexist that very strict guidelines to make application for child benefit should only apply to women and not men. It is ludicrous that a delay of a number of months occurs before the child benefit payment is made. If a child is born on 1 February in the Coombe Hospital in Dublin, by the following month, his or her parents should be able to obtain child benefit. We need reform in this area. There are inbuilt systems failures which do not work in favour of men, in particular young unmarried men. This Bill gives us an opportunity of going through these in greater detail.

I welcome the provisions in sections 28 to 30 on stillbirths, in particular section 28 which extends the period of application from 42 days at present to 12 months, whereby the parents of a stillborn baby can make an application to have the birth registered. As Senator McCarthy said it was the then Minister for Equality and Law Reform, former Deputy Mervyn Taylor, who initially introduced this measure and Deputy Coughlan is extending the registration period to 12 months. This very welcome measure is very sensitive and right, particularly when a first child is stillborn. This is a very traumatic experience for the parents and it is happening more frequently because of the age when people have children. Could we retrospectively change that provision, in other words would it be possible from 1994 onwards to extend the registration period to 12 months, as proposed in the Bill? Many parents, including myself, were not aware that a stillbirth could be registered and it would greatly help the grieving process that follows the tragedy of a stillborn baby if the couple could register it. Will the Minister look at that provision between now and Committee Stage and consider whether it would be possible to retrospectively apply the 12 months from 1994? I am not sure if that is possible, and the Parliamentary Counsel may say it is not possible because of the laws on retrospection. However, I think it would be worthwhile.

I had personal experience some years ago when I had to register the death of a parent. The sensitivity shown to people who have to register a death is exceptional. The person is brought into a private room to fill out the form, where there is no one else looking on. It is a traumatic experience having to register the death of a loved one. I congratulate the offices in the city centre that deal with the registration of deaths. I wonder if it is the same in every county. Are there guidelines in every county so that people are seen on a one to one basis?

It was brought to my attention recently that one of the ways that passports can be sold outside this country is through a failure to correlate information on people who have died with the registration of birth and the provision of a birth certificate. I heard of an instance of a criminal element which managed to go into a graveyard and find out the name of a person who had died in her early 20s, then applied for a birth certificate, having found out her address. With a birth certificate they are entitled to get a passport which can then be sold on through another criminal organisation. The new system of a PPS number goes a long way in deterring this type of activity.

Is there a formal procedure through the new tracking system whereby, if someone dies and his or her death certificate is issued, no other birth certificate can automatically be handed out? Has this matter been brought to the attention of other Members? On two separate occasions it has been brought to my attention that, for criminal purposes, birth certificates were issued for people who are deceased. We must also ensure that someone who has entered the State illegally cannot be issued unwittingly with a passport. The Minister should examine that matter.

Fine Gael supports the Bill, which has been a long time in the offing. I hope we can work with the Minister to improve it on Committee Stage, thereby putting civil registration law on a solid footing for the next 20 years.