Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 14 May 1996

Vol. 465 No. 3

Written Answers. - Registration of Births.

Batt O'Keeffe

Question:

108 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health the number of live births registered in respect of 1995; the drop in the birth rate since 1980; and his views on whether this downward trend is likely to continue in the ensuing years. [9495/96]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table. The latest year for which annual figures are available is 1994. Figures for the first three quarters of 1995 show that 37,583 births were registered. This number represents a rate of 14 per 1,000 population.

Number of Births and Birth Rates 1980 to 1994

Year	Number of Births	Birth rate (per 1,000 population)
1980	74,064	21.8
1981	72,158	21.0
1982	70,843	20.3
1983	67,117	19.1
1984	64,062	18.2
1985	62,388	17.6
1986	61,620	17.4
1987	58,433	16.5
1988	54,600	15.4
1989	52,018	14.8
1990	53,044	15.1
1991*	52,690	15.0
1992*	51,584	14.6
1993*	49,456	13.9
1994*	47,929	13.4

*Provisional figures based on year of registration.

The most recent set of population projections, published last year by the Central Statistics Office, forecasts a continuing decline in birth numbers, although at a less dramatic rate than occurred between 1980 and 1994. Details of the rationale behind this projection are contained in the CSO publicationPopulation and Labour Force Projections, 1996-2026.