Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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151. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on progress to reform the stillbirth registration process. [14886/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Registration of stillbirths by parents in Ireland is voluntary. Currently, the birth of a stillborn child may be registered where the child has a gestational age of 24 weeks or more or weighs 500 grammes or more.

Recommendations from the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive are that, in line with current clinical practice, the criteria for a stillborn child should be reduced to 23 weeks with a corresponding reduction in weight to 400 grammes.

Changes to the current legislative provisions to give effect to these recommendations will be included in a forthcoming Bill to amend the Civil Registration Act 2004 which I am currently bringing to Government. If the proposals are approved, they will then be sent to the Oireachtas for pre-legislative scrutiny.

I am also proposing that legislative changes are made to enable broader access to the Stillbirth Register. Currently, only the parents of a child recorded in the register or an tArd-Chláraitheoir or a member of his or her staff can search the register. As a matter of practice, the General Register Office facilitate access to the register where the parents are unable to do so or are deceased. The proposed amendments will enable a broader range of staff in the civil registration service to search the Stillbirth Register and to provide certificates or copies of the records to parents or relatives of the child recorded in the register.

These are important changes which I hope will help families who have experienced the trauma and sadness of the loss of a stillborn child.

I hope that this is of assistance to the Deputy.