Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I did not quite grasp that comment. We already discussed this matter extensively. When the time comes for Senator McCarthy he certainly will be most vociferous in ensuring he participates in the registration of a future voter and will rise to his obligations as a parent, as many of us have done already. Given that the registration of a child's birth is such an important life event, it is the duty of the parents to do it. It is not too onerous for the parents to do this on the basis that the large maternity hospitals will now facilitate it, moments after the birth if necessary. A child will now be able to be registered in any of the registrars' offices. I appreciate that children may not be born in the place where the parents may reside.

If we allow this to be optional, it would undermine the importance of the registration of a child and would take away from what is a very important event. The restrictions that existed heretofore were an inconvenience to many people. We have now extended the time in which it is possible to register the birth of a child, which should facilitate the registration. The legislation provides that a qualified informant can facilitate a person who cannot register a child due to ill health. We have done our best to facilitate any difficulties that might arise.

On this basis, we should not water down the requirement for the parents to be present to register the child. I doubt whether there have been many requests for the parents not to be there except in the exceptional circumstances addressed in the legislation.