Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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539. To ask the Minister for Health when he plans to commence Part 9 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015; the resources that have been set aside to allow the commencement of this Part; and the reason for the delay. [30317/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Part 9 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 and the registration of births is the responsibility of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection.  The current legislation governing registration of births provides only for the registration of a mother’s details and a father’s details. It is not possible, at present, to register the details of a birth using the term “parent”. This is provided for in Part 9 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, which is yet to be commenced.

On 5 July 2018 the Government approved the publication of the Children and Family Relationships (Amendment) Bill 2018 and it is scheduled to be introduced into Dáil Éireann on Wednesday 11 July. It is envisaged that the passage of this Bill through the Oireachtas will facilitate the commencement of Parts 2 & 3 of the Act of 2015 in the autumn of 2018, which are the responsibility of my Department.