asked the Minister for Health if he intends to introduce proposals for legislation to give statutory effect to regulations regarding the registration and certification of deaths as suggested in recent months by the Medico-Social Research Board.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Registration and Certification of Deaths.
116.
I share the concern of the Medico-Social Research Board that all deaths should be registered and that the cause of death should be accurately certified. Officers of the board and of my Department are working together to identify gaps in registration and to tighten up the procedure for ensuring that all deaths and births are registered. The appointment by health boards of whole-time superintendent registrars is a major step in this campaign.
The particular proposal referred to by the Deputy is that it should be made illegal for an undertaker to bury a body without first receiving evidence that the death has been registered. While I accept that this step would help to achieve full registration, it is impracticable, at present, because registrars are part-time and it could delay burials. I am satisfied that the steps now being taken, involving the Medico-Social Research Board, the health boards and my Department, are the best means of bringing about necessary improvements in the system of registration.