Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 20, after line 45, to insert the following subsection:

"(4) Where a child is born in a vehicle or vessel in transit from one place to another and the precise place of birth cannot be identified, the place of birth to be recorded shall be that of the townland or civil parish concerned, or other identifiable geographical area concerned, or if that cannot be ascertained, either the place of departure of the vehicle or vessel or the place of arrival, as may be specified by the informant,".

This amendment is the result of a recent case in which the registrar produced a birth certificate for a child born in an ambulance that specified the place of birth as a road between two named destinations. This is wholly unsatisfactory for very obvious reasons. My amendment proposes a number of alternatives to registering a child in this manner, which is not acceptable by today's standards. In the case in question, a reference to a townland may have been appropriate, as opposed to a road between two destinations. If the Minister accepts my amendment, it will at least provide that an identifiable location be included in the birth certificate as the place of birth. I appeal to her to consider it.