Sharon Keogan Demands Action as Birth Registration Delay Persists

Thank you, Lasky Hurlach, and you're very welcome in again, Minister, to the House, and thank you for attending this morning. I regret, however, that I must raise this issue yet again. Section 6 of the Civil Registration Amendment Act 2014 remains uncommenced, despite assurances from the Government that it would be operational by the end of quarter two this year. We're now at the close of quarter four and still nothing. Minister, this is my fifth time bringing this matter before the House. An entire ten years has passed since this legislation was agreed. The technical error was corrected in 2024, and you assured us last February that training would be completed and commenced, achieved by mid-2025. That promise has not been honoured. This delay is not a mere administrative inconvenience, it is a real human cost. For a decade, unmarried fathers have been denied the right to have their names recorded on their children's birth certificates. This affects legal rights, identity, and the ability of children to trace their lineage. In 2014, 37% of children were born outside of marriage. By 2022, that figure has risen to over 43%. This is not a marginal issue. It affects thousands of families and thousands of fathers. Minister, I'm asking for clarity today. Why has the commitment to commence section 6 by quarter two not been met? What specific obstacles remains? When will this provision finally come into force and what steps will you take to ensure that this House is not debating the same question in another six months? Families have waited long enough. Fathers have waited long enough. This level of delay would be farceful if it were not for the real human damage it has caused for the past decade. So it is time for action and no further excuses, Minister. Sir, Ara. Good morning. Can I thank Senator Keoghan for raising this matter? I am taking the matter from Minister Cleary, as you know. I want to thank you again for raising the matter. It is a very important issue. I acknowledge that you have raised the matter here in the House already. Minister Cleary responded to you in your commencement matter at that time. The Civil Registration Amendment Act 2014 principally amends and extends, as you know, the Civil Registration Act 2004. As was previously outlined to you, the Civil Registration Amendment Act 2014 was signed into law on 4 December 2014. This Act principally amends and extends the Civil Registration Act 2004 and contains 36 sections. These sections include important amendments to marriage legislation which dealt with issues around marriages of convenience cases and have proven effective in reducing the amount of such cases in the State. The Act also provided for an expansion to the list of persons who could register this death in the State and these sections related to marriages and deaths have commenced since 2015. These sections relating to a change to birth registration were contained in sections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. These sections amended how births were re-registered along with the issues of providing the details of a father, as highlighted by the Senator, as well as providing for issues of facing registration staff at local office level, such as allowing for birth registration in circumstances where a parent could not attend to sign a register of birth due to reasons of hardship. In relation to Section 6 of the Civil Registration Amendment Act 2014, as referred to it by you, Senator Yogan, this section introduces new provisions that require a mother who was not married to the father of her child to provide his particulars to register where she is registering the birth. Section 6 introduces new provisions that require a mother who was not married to the father of her child to provide his particulars to register where she is registering the birth. Section 6 amends the Section 22 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and prior to the amendment of Section 22 where the mother was not married to the father of the child, there was no requirement on her to provide the details of the father of her child. The amended Section 22 sets out a process whereby the mother must inform the register of the name and contact details of the man she wishes the name as the father of her child. A letter informing the man that he has been named by the mother will be sent to him from the registration office. Registration of the father will then be dependent on the man acknowledging paternity of the child within 28 days of receipt of the letter. Commencement of these provisions was subject to preparatory work and training of the registrars in the HSE by the general registrars office. An initial training program was delivered in early 2020. However, prior to the commencement of provisions in 2020, as you said, a technical error was discovered in the relevant amending legislation. This technical error was corrected in the recently enacted Civil Registration Electronics Registration Act 2024 and this Act was signed by the President in July of 2024. Senator Gauguin will appreciate, given the passage of time since the initial training related provision was originally delivered, officials in the Department of Social Protection in consultation with the HSE determined that further training would be required to ensure operational readiness prior to commencing the legislation. A further nationwide training program has been completed by the general registrars office with the registration staff. Training material, relevant documentation and updated forms have been provided to local registration staff and technical issues around incorporating the IT system related requirements of the changes into the existing Civil Registration and Computer System have been finalised. I am pleased to inform the Senator, following the completion of the training and technical upgrades, that Minister Kileery has signed the order to commence section 6 as of and from yesterday, Wednesday 10 December 2025. Officials from the Department of Social Protection are available and happy to engage further with Senator Gauguin on the matter. Good morning. Thank you very much and I want to thank Minister Kileery as well. I think I have been raising this issue every six months for about three years and I can tell you this morning that many fathers out there would be absolutely delighted that this legislation has been signed yesterday. Thank you and thank you from all the fathers in Ireland that have remained nameless on births over the last number of years and you have rectified that this morning. So thank you from the bottom of my heart on behalf of all the fathers of Ireland. Thank you. Senator Keoghan for raising the matter and I suppose we all welcome the commencement of section 6 which will provide an opportunity for all fathers names to be recorded and registered births. Could I just make the point that Senator Keoghan knows that the amount of birth registrations that do not contain a father's name is very low, less than 3%. However, it is the Government's view that where possible, as you know, all children should have the right to know the details of both of their parents. I would like to remind everybody in the House that the new section will allow for circumstances whereby the mother can provide a statutory declaration to the registrar if she is not able to provide the name of the father. This provides a welcome safeguard to the mother and provides a mechanism whereby the registrar or superintendent registrar has oversight of the implementation of this provision. The commencement of section 6 will also complete the commencement of all sections of the Civil Registration Act 2014 in relation to registration and re-registration of births. I want to just thank Senator Keoghan again for raising the matter this morning. Good morning. Thank you.