Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
328. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will intervene to allow a person (details supplied) to register the birth of their baby born in July 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43780/23]
View answerThe requirements for registration of a birth are contained in Part 3 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 (the Act), as amended, and are underpinned by Section 46 of the Status of Children Act 1987 which sets out that the husband of a marriage is presumed to be the father of the child where the mother is or was married at any time during the 10 months immediately preceding the birth.
Where the mother and father are not married to one another, and the mother is in a subsisting marriage to another man, registration of the child's birth to include the father's details may be completed where the husband provides a statutory declaration that he is not the father of the child, or the mother or father provides a court order made in proceedings referred to in Section 45 of the Status of Children Act 1987 which names the father of the child to be used as evidence of paternity.
There is no provision made within the Act whereby a registrar may register the birth to include the father's details in the absence of a statutory declaration by the husband or a court order which names the father of the child.
Section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 extended the method of rebuttal of the presumption of the husband's paternity for those mothers who have not divorced or separated from their husband. A technical amendment to the Civil Registration Act (2004) is required to give effect to this provision. Once enabled, this Section provides that a married mother may submit a declaration that she has been living apart from their husband for at least 10 months prior to a birth along with such evidence which the registrar considers sufficient for the purposes of rebutting the husband's paternity. The necessary amendment is contained in the Civil Registration (Online Registration) Bill 2023, which is at an advanced stage of preparation and which I look forward to bringing to the House shortly.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
