Vol. 405 No. 3
293 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Health the proposals he has to provide official registration and certification for stillbirths as the absence of such official recognition adds to the parents' pain and grief when they lose a child before birth.
My Department are very mindful of the concerns of the Irish Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society regarding the need for a stillbirth register. The establishment of such a register is a development I support.
I am at present conducting a general review of the legislation governing births, deaths and marriages, and the question of the registration of stillbirths will be considered as part of this extensive review. However, the legislation is complex and it is inevitable that this review will take a considerable amount of time. I have, therefore, asked my Department to devise an interim arrangement which would be of some assistance to bereaved parents until the necessary legislative changes have been made. The Department are at present considering how this might best be done.
