Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her views on the mandatory inclusion of fathers' names on birth certificates, which would assist in securing maintenance payments where necessary; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39797/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The current position in relation to birth registrations is that no man can be named as the father of a child in an entry unless he consents to do so or unless he is found to be the father of the child by the Courts, in proceedings relating to guardianship or maintenance or by way of a declaration of parentage, made under section 35 of the Status of Children Act, 1987.

Under the provisions of the Civil Registration Act, 2004, where the parents are not married to each other at the time of the birth, the father's particulars can be registered if the parents make a joint application to do so, or if either makes an application, accompanied by a statutory declaration from the other parent, naming the father, or if either parent makes an application accompanied by a court order naming the father.

Where a father's details are not registered initially, the parents may re-register the birth to add his details. The procedures for such re-registrations are similar to those for registrations. Also, if the parents marry each other following the birth, they are legally obliged to re-register the birth, under the provisions of section 24 of the Act.

The Houses of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs has strongly recommended that it should be made compulsory for the father's name to be registered on a child's birth certificate (First Report – October 2009). The Law Reform Commission (LRC) recently issued a discussion document on legal aspects of family relationships, which included the issue of the registration of the father's particulars. They have invited submissions from interested parties and will, in due course, issue recommendations in a further report. Any recommendation in relation to the compulsory registration of the father's details on a birth record will be of considerable significance and will be seriously considered, especially in light of the Joint Committee's recommendation on the