Marie Sherlock (Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. At this point, there is a very real and serious problem with families being able to register the births of their newborn babies and get a birth certificate for that child. A child born in Cork today will have a birth registered in two to three days. If that same child was born in Dublin the wait for an appointment for registration would be weeks and in some cases months. I know of a child born four weeks ago and the date for the registration of the birth is 16 December. Waiting matters because families cannot access child benefit or the GP card. We know that in some instances it delays housing applications. I know of families that have had to pay for an infant baby to go to a GP because they do not have the free GP card. For low-income families or single parents having to pay for everything themselves or for families with a good income but paying exorbitant rents, the waiting matters because of the GP card, child benefit and other supports from the State.

There is a failure on the part of the HSE and the Department of Health to address the enormous backlog that exists in Dublin. There is an irony that if I had a baby today I could drive to Meath or Louth in two or three days' time and register the baby's birth but in Dublin I would be waiting for many weeks. Nobody should have to commute any number of miles, particularly after the birth of a baby, to get the baby registered. There is a very real question as to what the HSE is doing. I understand there is a backlog of between 500 to 600 applications for the registration of births that arose from the time when people could only apply online. We have the culmination of those applications online plus people waiting for an appointment. It is intolerable that in November parents and families are waiting.

This is not the totality of the problem. Trying to register the birth of a child is one thing; trying to get a birth certificate is another matter. When I came to these problems there was a strong whiff of the wild west about trying to purchase a birth certificate in this country. At present, people in Dublin are directed to order a birth certificate online. It is made clear there is no facility to order a birth certificate over the phone. The HSE website suggests there is no walk-in facility. Last week, I informed the Seanad that families had come to me who in desperation had rung the civil registration office and were told to put money in an envelope. They received the birth certificate within a few days. A family told me they needed a birth certificate to get the child baptised and the church directed them to the civil registration office in Kilkenny from where they received the certificate in a few days. Another family told me an official in the office told them there were 19,000 unread emails regarding applications for birth certificates.

Of most concern to me is that families told me they were able to purchase a birth certificate from third parties. This day four weeks ago, we engaged in an experiment of sorts whereby a family allowed me to purchase a birth certificate for a baby who was only a few weeks old. The mother went through the civil registration service on Lombard Street on the same day. I paid €46 and she paid €21.50. I received the baby's birth certificate within six days. She is still waiting four weeks later.There is something wrong with a system where families are forced to pay extra to get a birth certificate. If these third parties and companies are able to go to civil registration offices outside Dublin and purchase birth certificates at a profit to sell back to families, the question must be asked as to why is the HSE not doing something similar. Why is it not distributing the caseload that has built up in Dublin to other civil registration offices across the country? Not only does it make a mockery of the State, but it is unnecessarily forces parents to pay extra. It is also important to note that there is a risk, when people are handing their money over, that they may never see the birth certificate. One company, Births, Deaths and Marriages, which was taking up to €50 from people, went belly-up in the past number of weeks. People handed over the money and ended up with no birth certificate. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's response.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this most important Commencement matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection. I pass on her apologies. I also understand the Senator has had discussions with the General Register Office, GRO, on the issues that she has raised,

We share the concerns expressed by her. The issue is of huge concern to the Government. I understand that some parents have suffered delays in excess of 12 weeks, and perhaps longer, in having their children's births registered. These delays and backlogs are being experienced in the eastern regional registration area. Thankfully, other registration areas appear to be less affected.

The House will be aware that the HSE is responsible for the day-to-day delivery of civil registration services. The Minister for Social Protection has only limited functions with respect to how the HSE delivers the service and has no direct role in the performance of any of the operational areas. I wish to emphasise that what we are dealing with is clearly a performance issue and not a weakness in policy.

The HSE has advised that the cyberattack significantly impacted its computer systems in mid-May 2021, and that it continues to struggle with the impact, particularly in its largest office in Dublin. Allied to these difficulties are those caused by the restrictions on public access and staff of registration offices both in Dublin and nationally. I understand that the cyberattack resulted in the local registration services being out of action for five weeks from mid-May. It was not until much later in July that some of the critical systems were passed fit for servicing, resulting in severe disruption to service provision and backlogs that are proving difficult to clear.

Senators will be aware that many civil registration offices are located within other health services in clinics or close to maternity hospitals that continue to be subject to restricted public access. The staff, to their credit, have continued to maintain the civil marriage services, and continue to manage notifications from couples wishing to get married. Some 1,500 births fall to be registered in eastern areas, placing a continued pressure on the service. Not unusually, the eastern area has suffered some short-term staff shortages due to the promotion and retirement of key staff over the past few months. Recruitment is under way to fill vacancies, but it will take time for new staff to get up to speed. Additional temporary staff have been recruited to tackle the backlogs and provide additional support with respect to its customer service channels. Staff are also working at weekends.

The Senator has identified additional concerns that the Minister wants to address. PPS numbers are automatically allocated once a birth has been registered. Parents do not need to do anything for the PPS number to be allocated. Adjustments follow automatically to child benefit payments and the Minister has committed to ensuring that any delay in child benefit resulting from the backlog will be made good and arrears will be paid quickly. The Senator also asked if there is any relationship between the websites she mentioned and the HSE or the GRO. To my knowledge, there is no connection, contractual or otherwise. My understanding is that they operate as third-party certificate resellers.

I am encouraged by the manner in which the service has recovered, having suffered such a significant setback earlier in the year. It would be useful if communications could be improved so that any person looking for a certificate is encouraged to look to their local registration office or to the GRO, which provide a similar service.

Marie Sherlock (Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I am conscious that he is responding on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection. I thank her for the response. I originally submitted the matter to the Minister for Health but it was redirected to the Minister for Social Protection.I am glad to hear from the reply submitted by the Minister for Social Protection that this is a performance issue. Indeed, it is a performance issue for the HSE to address and, therefore, it is one for the Department and the Minister for Health, who have responsibility for the HSE, to address. I am glad to hear efforts are being made to address recruitment, but as the written reply makes clear, "Not unusually, the eastern area has suffered some short-term staff shortages". It is simply unacceptable that families will be waiting 12 weeks to register the birth of their baby. This could be so easily resolved by allocating some of that work to other offices. While I accept efforts are being made, they are simply not good enough.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for her comments and appreciate the frustration she has expressed. I will raise the issue with the Minister for Social Protection and the Department of Health in the context of any jurisdiction it has over the HSE in this regard. As a parent, I appreciate how frustrating it can be when trying to get a child registered, given many key services flow from that. I will raise the matter with the Minister and try to accelerate the provision of those resources. The prepared contribution indicates staff are working at weekends and trying their best to alleviate the backlog. The addition of new staff will, I hope, make the key difference.