Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 174: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the methodology needed to legally register a new born baby (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20198/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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An tArd Chlaráitheoir (Registrar General) is the person with statutory responsibility for the administration of the civil registration system in Ireland. I have made enquiries with the Registrar General and he has informed me that the position is as follows. Section 46 of the Status of Children Act, 1987, provides that the husband in a legally subsisting marriage shall be presumed to be the father of all children of the marriage, unless the contrary is proved on balance of probability. Statutory declarations and court orders set out as follows are required in order to set aside the presumption of paternity.

The provisions governing the registration of births are contained in Part 3 of the Civil Registration Act, 2004. Section 22(3) provides that, where the mother was married at the date of the birth of the child or at some time during the 10 months immediately before the birth, and where it is maintained that the legal spouse is not the father, the registrar must be given either a statutory declaration from the spouse rebutting paternity of the child, or a statutory of more than 10 months declaration of the mother that she has been living apart from the spouse during a period ending immediately before the date of the birth of the child by virtue of a decree of divorce, a decree of divorce a mensa et thoro, a decree of nullity or a deed of separation.

Sub-section 22(1)(d) provides for applications to register the father's particulars the registrar is provided with a document purporting to be a copy of an order made by a court in proceedings referred to in section 45 of the Status of Children Act 1987, and to be certified by or on behalf of the court to be a true copy of the order, finding that the person is the father of the child. The orders referred to are maintenance orders and orders relating to guardianship, for which applications may be made to local District Family Law Courts.

In the case that is the subject of the Deputy's question, the mother is still legally married and must provide to the registrar a statutory declaration from her estranged spouse rebutting paternity. Alternatively, a court order naming another man as the father of the child would be sufficient to rebut the presumption of paternity. While the mother is not obliged to register the particulars of the man named as the father in the court order, the mother or father, individually or jointly, would have the option to effect a re-registration to add the father's particulars at a later date. Until such time as the presumption of paternity concerning the spouse is rebutted, either by way of statutory declaration or court order, it is not possible to effect registration in cases such as this without registering the legal spouse's details.