Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to commend Senator Leyden for bringing the Bill before the House today, but he should not get used to it. To be fair to him, he has pursued this particular issue relentlessly. He initiated a Private Members' Bill in 2005, 2011 and again today.

Sinn Féin is supportive of the intentions behind the Bill, as the current system is archaic. The current procedure is too loose, with no fallback when the will is misplaced, lost or, in some cases, destroyed. At least with a register in place it would be known that a will had been made at some stage. Without a register and without knowing whether a will has been made, there are long delays in allowing the intentions of a deceased person to be set out and unnecessary delays for the beneficiaries of a will.

The death of a loved one is a traumatic time for families. Turning houses, solicitors' offices or whatever else upside down while searching for wills that may have been filed for safekeeping adds to the stress. Maintaining the privacy of the contents of a will is imperative to maintaining the integrity of the probate process. Any changes to the current process will need to be managed extremely carefully to ensure an effective and accountable process remains in place.

The essential details of a written will need to be kept private and the intentions of the deceased persons secured as it is their wish when they make a will. Centralising the process that proves that a will was made and its location would be a most welcome move for the country once privacy is maintained within the system.

Many attempts have been made to set up a central register but all have failed. I again thank the Senator for his tenacity in continually pushing this measure. Ireland is way behind other countries in Europe in putting a register in place.

In the context of Europe and people living abroad who may have made a will, a central European register would make sense. Ireland has been criticised many times for failing to possess the political will to implement a register. The Senator cannot be faulted for this. He has twice brought a Bill before the Seanad and twice a sitting Government has let him down in terms of progressing the Bills. I hope the Minister will make sure of its progress.

Sinn Féin will support the Bill at this stage and look forward to working and making recommendations on amendments on future Stages to ensure that it passes and becomes law. This cannot fail for the third time.

There is a wider problem, namely, that the taking out of wills in Ireland by citizens is not done on a level anywhere near high enough. Making a will is one of the most important and necessary acts that one carries out in one's adult life. A campaign raising awareness or encouraging more people to take out wills on the back of this Bill would be most welcome.

I look forward to working with other Senators to make sure a robust, yet transparent, central register is implemented. Central to our support will, of course, be maintaining the privacy and integrity of the current wills process, but moving it into modern times and away from the dated and inefficient methods currently being used which have led to many problems and confusion.