Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State is very welcome and I greatly admire him, as he knows, but he is the wrong Minister for this topic. I wanted to ask the Minister for Social Protection to outline the progress and the next steps to amending the Civil Registration Act to enable the registration of deaths of Irish people who die abroad. I have raised the topic with the Minister and, since then, she asked me to meet with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. I did so and he promised me a memo would come to Government.

I will explain the problem. Young people go on holiday on student visas to the US and sometimes deaths occur abroad. Two young people died abroad two years ago and one parent spearheaded this major campaign entitled Bring Them Home. It is now a Facebook campaign with 4,200 people seeking the registration of Irish people who, sadly and tragically, died abroad while on holiday or on a student visa. The Minister is faced with a dilemma. How long should they be out of the country before we register their deaths abroad?

Currently, this only happens in exceptional cases, namely, if the person is a member of the Defence Forces, Naval Service or Army. I am speaking today about people who die abroad and whose families want their deaths registered in Ireland. I am not sure if the Minister of State is aware of this but as things stand if he or I died abroad our death would not be registered in Ireland even though this is our country of residence, which is incredible. Our passports would remain live and for all intents and purposes here we would be alive because our death would have only been registered where it occurred, with the death certificate available for use in Ireland for administrative purposes, if necessary. However, one's passport could be misused, although that is not my motivation for raising this issue. My motivation is the genuine desire of families to have the death abroad of their Irish citizen child, brother, sister, husband or wife, registered in Ireland.

This matter was the subject of discussion at the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection during the last term and has also been discussed in this House. I hope that the Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, has some good news in terms of when the Minister proposes to address this issue. I received a letter from the Minister on 15 October which states:

Any broadening of the current provisions requires careful consideration given the number of people who live and die in other countries and who have, or are entitled to have, Irish citizenship. This issue is currently being considered by my Department, along with a number of other proposed amendments to the Civil Registration Act.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I understand that the death of a loved one abroad is particularly difficult for families involved. This issue, along with a number of other proposed amendments to the Civil Registration Act 2004, is currently being closely considered in the Department of Social Protection. In this regard it is hoped that legislation will be introduced in 2013.

Under the provisions and procedures governing the registration of deaths in Ireland, which are contained in Part 5 of the Civil Registration Act 2004, 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, it is registered by a registrar on foot of a coroner's certificate.

In general, only deaths which occur within the State can be registered. However, section 39 of the Act provides for the following exceptions: the death of an Irish citizen on board a foreign ship or a foreign aircraft travelling to or from a port, or an airport, as the case may be, in the State; the death of a person on board an Irish aircraft or an Irish ship; and the death of a member of the Garda Síochána or the Permanent Defence Force or of the spouse or specified members of the family of such a member outside the State while the member is serving outside the State as such member.

Section 38 of the Act makes provision for the registration of a death of an Irish citizen domiciled in the State in certain specific circumstances. Where the death of an Irish citizen domiciled in the State occurs abroad, the death may be registered here if there was not at the time of the death a system of registration of deaths in the place where the death occurred, or such a system that applied to such a death, or it is not possible to obtain copies of or extracts from civil records of the death, namely, a death certificate. In other words, if the death could not be registered or if a death certificate could not be obtained, the death can be registered here. Although the number of such cases is extremely small it is considered reasonable to make provision for them. The reasoning behind these provisions is simply to ensure that where deaths cannot be registered abroad, they can be registered here and that in all cases the relatives of the deceased have available to them a certificate of the death for personal, legal and administrative purposes.

Usually, when an Irish citizen dies abroad, the death is registered by the civil authorities in the place where the death occurred and a certified copy of the death registration is obtainable. This certificate, translated if necessary, is normally sufficient for all legal and administrative purposes here and for these reasons alone there is no necessity for the death to be registered in the State. Any broadening of the current provisions will require careful consideration. It will be appreciated that the number of people who live and die in other countries and who have or are entitled to Irish citizenship is very large. This would have implications for the registration process and for the vital statistics relating to deaths which are derived from registered events.

The number of Irish citizens who are domiciled in Ireland and who die abroad is relatively small in the context of total deaths occurring here in any given year. However, I am acutely conscious that each figure represents a tragedy and because the deaths take place away from home it is an additional heartache for the family. As I have said already, a death certificate is readily available in the overwhelming majority of these cases. However, I do appreciate that many families of the deceased strongly believe that registration here of the death, would give recognition of the death in the person's country, which would also assist during a period of considerable grief. I am aware that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection has recommended amendment of the current legislation to enable deaths of Irish citizens who have died abroad to be registered here.

As stated, any broadening of the current provisions requires careful consideration given the number of people who live and die in other countries and who have or are entitled to Irish citizenship. I again thank the Senator for raising this issue. The Minister hopes to bring forward legislation in this regard in 2013.

Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It is great to hear that legislation will be introduced in 2013. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the persistence of Mrs Yvonne O'Reilly, her husband and children, from Galway in pursuing this matter. Mrs. O'Reilly whose first born child, a son, died abroad is a champion for many others in terms of seeking to have her son's death recognised and recorded in the country of which he was a citizen. As stated by the Minister of State, this would help in the grieving process. It is amazing what can make a big difference to people. This is important not alone to Yvonne, who is the beacon of light that has championed this issue and brought it to my attention, but to the many other families who presented during the last term at the meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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I come from an area similar to that from which Senator Healy Eames comes. Many of my constituents have also lost their lives abroad, some in tragic circumstances. I understand the grief of such families and what solace it would be to them to have the death of their loved ones registered in their native country, as proposed by the Senator. I will pass on the Senator's views to the Minister for consideration.