Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 403: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the progress made in relation to changing the law to allow for more wide-spread registration of the deaths of Irish residents who die abroad; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41463/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Usually where an Irish citizen dies abroad, the death is registered by the civil authorities of the place where the death occurred, and a certified copy of the death registration is obtainable. This certificate, translated if necessary, is normally sufficient for all legal and administrative purposes here and for these reasons alone there is no necessity for the death to be registered in the State.

The provisions and procedures governing the registration of deaths in Ireland are contained in Part 5 of the Civil Registration act, 2004.

Section 38 of the Act provides that in specific circumstances the death of an Irish citizen domiciled in the State may be registered here. This applies where such a death occurs in a place where there is no system of registration or where it is not possible to obtain a copy of or extract from the civil records of the death. In all other circumstances the death is registered by the civil authorities of the place where the death occurred.

Any broadening of the current provisions requires careful consideration given the number of people who live and die in other countries and who have or are entitled to have Irish citizenship. However, I would hope to be in a position to introduce legislation on this, and other aspects of civil registration, in 2012.