John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 413: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her Department has a policy regarding persons birth certificates being available in Irish. [36767/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The system of civil registration in Ireland, which includes the registration of births, deaths, marriages, stillbirths and domestic adoptions, is administered by an tArd Chlaráitheoir (Registrar General).

The Official Languages Act, 2003, provides the statutory basis for the promotion and use of both official languages of the State. In compliance with the provisions of the Act, all certificates of life events issued by the civil registration service are bi-lingual. This facilitates persons registering a particular life event to do so either in the Irish or English language and these details are included in any certificate subsequently issued in respect of that event.

Birth certificates are issued by registrars and the General Register Office in accordance with section 61 of the Civil Registration Act, 2004. All of the standard text on a birth certificate form is bi-lingual with certain exceptions. If an applicant requests a certificate in English, the name of the district of registration, superintendent registrar's district and county is printed in English only. If an applicant requests a certificate in Irish, these items are printed in Irish only.