Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I wish to outline the views of the Government on the Bill because this seems an appropriate place to do so. Senator Leyden has made a valiant attempt in this amendment to make clear that the register will not provide any presumption about the existence or non-existence of a will or the validity or non-validity of a will.

The amendment states "The registration or non-registration of any wills, including codicils pursuant to this Act shall not be evidence of and shall not provide any presumption of" any of the particulars entered into the register of wills specified in the schedule. Under this amendment no presumption attaches to any of the particulars registered with the Registrar General.

The Government has reservations about this legislation which are somewhat similar to that outlined by Senator Tuffy. There is a lack of any evidential basis in the register such as in the register of deaths where the evidential basis is established by the fact that a medical practitioner or coroner must provide a certificate and the register must be signed by a relative of the deceased. In general when births, marriages and deaths are registered they are based on the supply of information by a person authorised to give that information to the registrar and Parliament has generally provided that a presumption attaches to the document evidencing the facts of registration, that the facts are as stated in the particulars.

No such presumption attaches to this register. That would be the case whether the Seanad agreed to this amendment or not because the Bill does not attempt to regulate the general law on wills. For that reason, the registration does not provide an assurance that a will is valid or the last will of a person has been revoked, amended or superseded.

Senator Leyden makes that clear in his amendment but the reality for the general register is that the registers maintained by the General Register Office enjoy a presumption of accuracy and reliability. The creditworthiness of the register would be somewhat undermined when those who had registered their wills realised that no reliability can attach to the registration. That is the Department's position on the Bill.

The Bill raises an important issue of principle and I welcome the fact that Senator Leyden has introduced it. I know that it commended itself to Senators on Second Stage and that the Seanad has approved the Bill. It raises important questions and seeks to address the mischief of the disappeared will. In some jurisdictions there is provision for a central register of wills much as we have a central register of land transactions, such that if one wants a valid will one must register it in a central location. That has not been the tradition of our law which has always allowed a testator to make his or her will as he or shepleases.

There is a half-way house solution which could be proposed, namely, that there should be a central depository of wills and that once a will is executed, it would be deposited there. Again, that would be a matter for legislation amending the Succession Act and would require the assistance of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I speak to this Bill which purports to amend the legislation relating to births, marriages and deaths. I simply state the views of the Government on the narrow issue of whether it is appropriate to amend that legislation for this purpose.