Written answers

Tuesday, 21 June 2005

Department of Health and Children

General Register Office

10:00 pm

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 225: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the timetable for the implementation of the Civil Registration Act 2004; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17114/05]

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 226: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the timetable for the decentralisation of the General Register Office from Dublin to Roscommon; if the Civil Registration Act 2004 will not be implemented until the decentralisation process is complete; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17115/05]

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 227: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the stage in the decentralisation process at which the requirement that a civil marriage ceremony must take place in the office of a register of marriages be changed. [17116/05]

Photo of Mary HarneyMary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 225 to 227, inclusive, together.

An tArd-Chláraitheoir, the Registrar General, is the person with statutory responsibility for the administration of the civil registration system in Ireland. I have made inquiries of the RegistrarGeneral and the position is as set out below.

The General Register Office, GRO, with the exception of its public research facility, relocated to Roscommon on 11 April last. The GRO has moved into the new Government offices in Roscommon, which include a purpose-built high-technology archival storage facility. The public research facility remains in Joyce House, Dublin 2.

Considerable efforts have been ongoing to ensure the hand-over of sufficient skills and corporate knowledge to enable the new team to provide an efficient service from the new location and this has been a factor in progressing the civil registration modernisation programme, including the implementation of the Civil Registration Act 2004. I am glad to inform the Deputy, however, that the decentralisation has worked well and I would like to congratulate all the staff of the GRO, past and present, who worked hard to make the move a success.

The Civil Registration Service has been engaged in a major modernisation programme in recent years, including conversion of historic records to electronic format; implementation of a new computerised registration system; and organisational reform. This work, which is key to the implementation of the Civil Registration Act 2004, is being carried out in phases and the stage has been reached where it will soon be possible to begin commencing certain provisions of the Act.

In the course of the preparatory work towards commencement, legal advice was received to the effect that an amendment to the 2004 Act is required. The amendment is small and technical in nature and the amending legislation required will be brought before the Oireachtas at the earliest possible date.

The Civil Registration Act 2004 provides for the commencement of the various provisions of the Act on a gradual basis. It is hoped that Parts 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8 of the Act, which relate to the administration of the service and the registration of births, stillbirths and deaths, will be commenced shortly after the amending bill has been passed.

The new procedures for marriage are set out in Part 6 of the Act and include universal procedures for notification, solemnisation and registration of marriages, as well as a choice of venue for civil marriages. Before these provisions can be commenced, a substantial body of work needs to be completed, including drafting and publication of regulations, guidelines and detailed procedures; establishment of a register of solemnisers in consultation with religious bodies; establishment of a register of approved venues for civil marriages; and the further development of the computer system to facilitate the administration of the new marriage provisions introduced by the Act.

The Registrar General is unable to give a specific date for the implementation of the new marriage procedures but it is unlikely to be before the autumn of 2006. This timescale is dependent on the passage of the amending legislation referred to above. It is intended to give as much public notice as possible and a comprehensive public information campaign will be undertaken at the appropriate time.

Implementation of the other provisions, relating to registration of adoptions, divorces and civil nullity, will follow commencement of the marriage provisions.

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