Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on his ministerial role. I wish him well for many years ahead. I thank him for joining me this morning for this Commencement matter regarding the continued non-commencement of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014. We were previously told that the legislation had not been commenced due to the needed correction of a technical error in the legislation. Following the correction of this error in 2024, however, we were told that further engagement was still needed with HSE on the operational readiness necessary prior to the commencement. The then Minister, Heather Humphreys, was pleased to inform us that the officials in the General Register Office, were engaging with the superintendent registrars in the HSE in this regard. This is what we heard from the Government in November 2024. Will the Minister give us an update on the progress made in the four months since then and on this engagement with the HSE superintendent registrars? In addition, can we receive a timeline from the Government on the plan to commence this legislation? If this engagement has raised additional steps that still need to be fulfilled before commencement, will the Minister list and outline these steps along with the order in which they need to be fulfilled?

This legislation has been delayed for a decade. I feel obligated to remind the Government that this delay has had and continues to have a real human cost. For ten years this delay has prevented unmarried fathers from having their names recorded on birth certificates, affecting their legal rights and their children's ability to trace their lineage. More than ten years ago, this House agreed that this change in the legislation was the right and necessary thing to do for unmarried parents. The extent of the delay of its commencement is frankly baffling.

I underscore to the Government that this issue extends beyond a minor exceptional demographic within our society. Over the past decade the proportion of children born to unmarried parents has increased significantly, from 37.2% in 2014 to 43.2% in 2022. It is imperative that this legislation be initiated with the utmost urgency. I extend my support for all governmental efforts aimed at expediting this process.