Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 560: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the mechanisms available to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare to register their birth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29005/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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An tArd-Chláraitheoir (Registrar-General) is the person with statutory responsibility for the administration of the civil registration system. I have made enquiries with an tArd-Chláraitheoir and the position is as set out below.

Where it is established that a birth has not been previously registered, it is possible, under the provisions of the Civil Registration Act, 2004, to effect registration, provided the particulars required by law to be registered are available. In cases where the parents or any other qualified informant with knowledge of the required particulars failed to register a birth within 12 months of the event, the consent of a Superintendent Registrar of births, deaths and marriages is required to effect registration. Where the parents are deceased, or are incapable, or cannot be found and where no other qualified informant with sufficient knowledge of the required particulars can be found, an tArd-Chláraitheoir may cause the birth to be registered on production of adequate evidence of the details of the birth.

I understand that the minimum information required to be entered in the birth register is the forename(s) and surname, date and exact place of birth, the parents' names, or at least the mother's name and the marital status of the parents.

Since the commencement of the provisions relating to births in the Civil Registration Act, 2004 in December 2005, a birth may be registered by any Registrar of Births, irrespective of where in the country the person was born.

In relation to the birth referred to by the Deputy, it cannot be ascertained from the details supplied if a Registrar of Births was approached concerning this matter and whether the person concerned has sufficient knowledge of the required particulars to effect a registration. I suggest that the person concerned contact an tArd-Chláraitheoir directly in writing and he will assist in any way possible concerning this matter.