Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This Commencement matter is on the non-commencement of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014. This Act was passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas on 27 November 2014, and was signed into law on 4 December 2014. As per section 1(3) of the Act, the Minister must commence certain sections. This last happened in 2020 with SI 550 of that year, which commenced sections 5, 7, 8 and 9. This was brought to my attention by the assistant registrar general of the Department in October 2023, when I raised this Commencement matter at that time. Today, I am forced to raise it again. I was misled by a contradiction of the Irish Statute Book's website regarding the commencement of these sections.

Section 6 of the Act has not yet been commenced. It has been nearly 4,000 days and the commencement order has not been given. I have submitted a Commencement matter on this matter for a second time in order for us to hear why this is the case. This section relates to the registrations of births and the naming of the children's parents on documents in cases where the parents are not married. It provides that it is a duty of both parents to comply with the registration of the birth of the child, notwithstanding that they are not married to each other. Where the mother of the child attends alone, she must provide information as to the father's name and contact details. Where the mother furnishes evidence and a statutory declaration that her spouse is not the father of the child, the registrar must make responsible efforts to contact the spouse. Where parents fail to agree on the surname to be registered, the registrar may complete the registration by leaving the surname field blank, or, where a surname is already registered, leaving the surname in place. These are practical and common-sense provisions that were debated and voted in favour of ten years ago. They will also allow people in the future to be able to trace their lineage back, more importantly to get in contact with the estranged family if they wish to do so, and engender greater certainty in the birth registration system.

I understand that the amending Bill is being drafted by the Department to correct a technical issue in section 6, causing it to reference subsection (1)(a) instead of subsection (1). If this assists in getting this section commenced, it is a welcome move. Why has it taken so long? I understand that the legislative drafting measure is necessary. It is an exceedingly exact science that cannot be rushed, but ten years seems an awfully long time to wait for the commencement of any legislation.

When I last raised this matter in 2023, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, stated:

... prior to commencement, a technical error was discovered in the relevant amending legislation. This technical error is required to be corrected and this will be achieved in the forthcoming civil registration (electronic registration) Bill, which, as the Senator will be aware, was considered in pre-legislative scrutiny and approved for drafting by the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development, and the Islands.

The Minister of State continued:

The Bill is currently with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and is at [the] advanced stage[s] of drafting. [That was in October 2023.] The Minister, Deputy ... [Harris], looks forward to bringing the Bill to the Oireachtas shortly.

The Minister of State added:

Given the passage of time since the training was delivered and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, further engagement with the HSE will be needed to ensure operational readiness prior to commencement.

I hope the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, might be able to shed some light on the matter, particularly whether additional steps have been taken in the meantime.