Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 134: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if she has received correspondence from a person (details supplied) in Dublin 9; if she will consider amending the Civil Registration Act 2004 to reflect the thrust of the submission made therein; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14409/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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An tArd-Chláraitheoir, Registrar General, is responsible for the registration of all life events, including births. Oifig an Ard-Chláraitheoir has received correspondence from a person in Dublin 9 concerning a submission to amend the provisions of the Civil Registration Act 2004. The submission is mainly concerned with the issues of re-registration in cases involving unmarried parents and the child's surname details that may be re-registered.

Section 23 of the 2004 Act provides that where registration has occurred without the father's details in cases where the parents were not married to each other at the date of the birth or at any time during the previous ten months, re-registration of a person as father of a child can occur only at the joint request of the mother and the person acknowledging himself to be the father of the child, or at the request of the mother on production by her of a declaration as to the putative father's identity and his statutory declaration acknowledging fatherhood, or at the request of the putative father on production of his declaration acknowledging fatherhood and the mother's statutory declaration of confirmation, or at the request of the mother or putative father in writing on production of a certified copy of any court order in respect of proceedings relating to section 45 of the Status of Children Act 1987 naming the father of the child.

Provisions relating to surname details are contained in the Registration of Births Act 1996, as amended by the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002. The procedures dealing with the registration or re-registration of the child's surname are: births registered on or after 1 October 1997 with both parents details included on the birth entry cannot be re-registered and the surname assigned cannot be changed; for births registered on or after 1 October 1997 with the mother's details and surname only, the surname assigned may be changed on re-registration if both parents consent; for births registered before 1 October 1997 the surname assigned on re-registration can be the mother's or father's as they appear in the register, or of both. Once assigned the surname cannot be changed at a later date.

Births re-registered between 1 October 1997 and 15 October 2002 where the parents were obliged to re-register with the mother's surname may be re-registered for a second time to change the surname if both parents consent. The consent of both parents in issues involving re-registration and child's surname details is a fundamental principle of the legislation. In cases where consent is not given by either party, An tArd-Chláraitheoir has no legislative authority to arbitrate or decide upon the surname details to be registered as such judgements are appropriate to the courts of law.

The actual forename and surname used in connection with a child is not a matter for the registration service. It is a matter for a parent or parents to decide on the name by which a child is known. A person's legal name is that by which the person is known and a person acquires the right to it by use and repute.