Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Noone for the opportunity to address this very important matter today. I welcome Mrs. Goodwin and councillor Leddy to the House today and apologise on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Leo Varadkar, who has to be abroad with the President.

The Civil Registration Act 2004 provides for a register of deaths which occur in Ireland. Any death which occurs in the State must be registered, irrespective of the nationality or country of permanent residence of the deceased. Where a death occurs in the State, it is the duty of a qualified informant, normally a relative of the deceased, to attend at a registrar's office and register the death on foot of a certificate of cause of death supplied by a registered medical practitioner. Where a death is referred to a coroner, the death is registered by a registrar on foot of a coroner's certificate. These processes ensure the integrity, reliability and credibility of our registers, which is of the utmost importance.

When an Irish resident dies abroad, the death is registered in the country where the death occurs. A death certificate, issued by the civil authorities of that country and translated, if necessary, is normally sufficient for all legal and administrative purposes. There is no legal requirement to register such deaths here. Not having the death of a loved one registered in Ireland is a very emotive issue for some of the parents and relatives involved, and it was considered that provisions for the establishment of a record of foreign deaths would provide them with some comfort.

Section 13 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 provides for a record of deaths abroad to record the deaths of Irish citizens who die abroad while on holiday, on temporary work contracts or during short-term absences from the State. The use of a record, rather than a register, to record the deaths is based on the fact that the certificates which will be issued from the record will have no legal standing and will not be used to replace the death certificate received from the country of death. This is necessary to provide a clear distinction from certificates which are issued from the register of deaths in Ireland, which have a legal standing. It would not be possible for the Oireachtas to impose statutory obligations on foreign doctors or coroners to certify a death.The entry will record as many facts as are available on the death certificate received from the authorities in the place of death, other than the cause of death. The registration of such deaths on the register shall be voluntary and non-mandatory. The provision does not place a time limit on when the death occurred so that no person is inadvertently excluded from applying to record a death of a deceased loved one. The creation of a separate record ensures that the current death register would not be compromised by the inclusion of deaths that take place outside the State. It also ensures that statistics used by Central Statistics Office, CSO, for medical planning will not be compromised by the addition of foreign deaths to the main register of deaths. While the Department has responsibility for the commencement of this provision, the operation of the provision comes under the remit of the civil registration service in the HSE. Industrial relations issues within the civil registration service are currently being addressed and the provision will be commenced when they have concluded.