Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 354: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the proposals in place regarding publishing online all details of births, marriages and deaths in all of Ireland by the Office of the General Registrar; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18500/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Access to civil registration records is governed by section 61 of the Civil Registration Act 2004. Section 61 provides that a person, following an application in writing to an tArd Chláraitheoir (Registrar General), a Superintendent Registrar, a registrar or an authorised officer, and on payment of the prescribed fee, may search an index to a register of births, marriages and deaths, and on payment of the prescribed fee obtain a certified copy, a certified extract or a photocopy of a specified entry. The General Register Office maintains a dedicated research facility in central Dublin where members of the public may search manual indexes to the registers and obtain copies of entries in the registers.

Options are being considered as to how the service might be developed in the future, but it is too early at this stage to say what measures might eventually be taken. Any proposed measures which are outside the scope of the Civil Registration Act 2004 will require legislative change. In addition, developments will be dependent on the availability of staffing, ICT and financial resources. It is important to bear in mind that any proposals to extend access to registration data to members of the public will involve data protection and privacy considerations, as a large number of records contain sensitive information where, for example, register entries have been amended.