Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I beg the Senator's pardon. I did mean to respond to his points. I agree with the point that he made on identity. The Government will introduce legislation and there will be a change in the registration Act to ensure that fathers are named on birth certificates. I have never understood why they are not because they should be. Only in exceptional cases will a father not be named on a birth certificate. Identity is critical for the individual, as we know. For example, we have become more conscious of the issues surrounding identity in intercountry adoptions. If one talks about identity in Ireland we know that there are so many people who want to access information, to trace their origins and to have medical information but we have constitutional difficulties with that. Members will remember that when an attempt was made to deal with the issue there was a big reaction. People were worried about the rights of mothers who had placed children for adoption and expected that their action would remain secret forever. There are delicate balances but we should be clear about birth certificates.

I am quite sympathetic to the point made by the Senator on how family law has dealt with fathers and men. Every effort should be made for both parents to continue their involvement in the care of their child where appropriate and unless there are circumstances such as violence, domestic violence or other reasons. We are developing new services such as the new mediation service and the conflict resolution services for children in such circumstances. Barnardos also runs two pilot projects in Dublin that work with families going through a separation. The courts are more sensitive to the issue as well.

I take the points made by the Senator. We still have work to do on the issue. A great number of new services are being developed that have resulted in men becoming involved in their local communities. I have seen a lot of work done with fathers. The unemployment situation has given rise to more pressures being placed on men and women. Traditionally, these services were availed of by women but they reach out more to men now.