Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Before coming into the Chamber, I received a telephone call from a nightclub operator. To say that he is gutted about the announcement with regard to the coming into effect of the early closing time from this Friday is an understatement. I do not propose to dwell on the rights and wrongs of these changes. It is absolutely vital that the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, is reinstated. It is ironic that the second in a series of cuts to that payment comes into force today. The €350 payment is now down to €250, which is a €100 decrease on what it was at the start of September. There are people's livelihoods and incomes at stake. Many of these are young people.

The other issue I want to raise today is the shambolic waiting time for PPS numbers and the wild west situation that is playing out at this point in time with regard to applying for a birth certificate for a baby. We are all aware of the cyberattack on the HSE, which had an enormous impact on its operations, but there is a very serious question now as to what the HSE is doing to address the backlog with regard to the registration of babies. I know of babies born in July whose PPS numbers were only issued in recent weeks. This means parents had no access to a GP visit card or child benefit during their first three months of their babies' lives. That is not all. There are also appalling delays with regard to accessing a birth certificate. The system is a little different to what it was when I had my child, who is only two years old, in that getting a birth certificate is now separate to registering the birth of a child. Currently, in Dublin a family wishing to get a birth certificate is facing a wait of more than 11 weeks. Last week an official of the births, deaths and marriages office in Dublin told a family that there are 19,000 unread emails in that office relating to birth certificate applications. That is mind blowing.

There is something seriously wrong there, but it gets worse. While it is recommended that people apply online, what they do not know is that if they include €22 in cash in the envelope with the application they will get the birth certificate within a few days. I know of a family who needed a birth certificate in order to have their child baptised. They were given a telephone number in Kilkenny to contact about it and they received the birth certificate within a few days. Most families, because they are desperate to get a birth certificate in order to get a passport or to apply for other services for the child, are turning to what appear to be private or semi-private services. I am aware of two such companies, civilcertificates.ieand birthsdeathsmarriages.ie. In the case of birthsdeathsmarriages.ie, I know of one family who paid the company €50 but it appears to have gone belly-up and there is no word on the birth certificate.With the permission of one family, I paid the other company for a birth certificate last week on the same day as the mother applied for her baby's birth certificate through the HSE's births, deaths and marriages service. I paid €46 and she paid €21.50. I got the birth certificate within six days and the mother is still waiting. She will be waiting for many more weeks.

There are many issues with this, including waiting times and privacy. I could buy a birth certificate for another person's baby and get more information back in the certificate than I needed to put into the original application. I would like answers from the HSE and the Department of Social Protection regarding PPS numbers and from the Department of Health regarding the processing of birth certificates.