Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I congratulate the Minister of State and his officials on the Bill. Senator Henry referred to the Minister of State's comment on streamlining the procedure for adoptions as a reminder that we have not yet covered the issue of surrogacy. I support her comments. Perhaps it is one of the benefits of having a second House that there is a chance to look again at legislation.

This Bill would not be before us if we had thought this through last year when the previous Bill came before us. It is a reminder of the danger of putting a Bill through the House speedily, without giving it full attention. The Minister of State explained the system of registration very well this evening.

I have attended some weddings in France where the civil registrar is different from the celebrant of the other ceremony and the bride and groom must visit the registry as well as attend the other ceremony. It is interesting to note that in 1863 we established the priest as the registrar for a marriage. That was an innovative way of thinking for that time and it has worked.

I have recently been impressed by the service provided by the Passport Office. When I first came into the House some years ago it was very difficult to get a passport on time. Since the office installed modern technology and got on top of the work it has run efficiently. The same technology and ability to speed things up electronically will apply to the civil registration process, as the Minister of State explained.

Genealogy and the ability to trace one's relatives offers several benefits. I have met many tourists and Americans who wished to come here to trace their relatives and have not been easily able to do so. I was impressed when I visited the National Archives a couple of years ago to check up on my father-in-law. He was born in 1899 and cherished the ambition to live to be 100 and a few months in order to have lived during three centuries. He was anxious to achieve this as few people had done so but he died at the age of 93. He said of my father, who was born in 1902, "That so-and-so would have to be 198 to achieve the same thing", which he unfortunately did not achieve either.

It is impressive to see the many benefits of this research. I mention only a few. The Minister of State specified the linking of life events. That could not have been done with the old paper system but can be done electronically. I have full confidence that this will work because the effort has been made to ensure it does. I congratulate the Minister of State and his officials for thinking in this way and for the manner in which they have carried out the idea.