I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time".
The purpose of the Bill is to amend the format of the birth certificate. The Registration of Births and Deaths (Ireland) Act, 1863, introduced a system of civil registration of births. Form A annexed to that Act set out the particulars to be registered. That format continues to be used today.
The format of the birth certificate reflects the social attitudes and mores of the era in which it was designed. It shows the father's address but ignores that of the mother and records the father's occupation but not that of the mother. It also asks for the mother's "maiden name". The child's surname is not shown, which gives rise to the widespread presumption that the child takes its father's name. This format may have been considered entirely appropriate in 1863 when few women worked outside the home, non-marital births were rare and virtually all women assumed their husband's surname on marriage. However, it is not in keeping with present day society and with the status of women in that society — for example, today many women work outside the home. Many women change their name on marriage, as do some men, but this is by no means a universal practice. It can no longer be assumed a child will be given its father's surname. In some instances the child will be given its mother's surname, while in others a joint surname is preferred.
In today's environment the format of the birth certificate is anachronistic and discriminatory. The contents of the birth certificate have been the subject of mounting criticism in recent years. Many people have conveyed to me their sense of outrage that their child's birth must be registered in this way. Their annoyance is not lessened when they are informed that this is a statutory requirement and that the relevant Act is over 130 years old.
The Second Commission on the Status of Women identified the birth certificate as an area of discrimination against women and recommended that the necessary statutory changes be made to alter its format. Shortly after its creation, my Department assumed responsibility for a comprehensive review of the legislation on the registration of births, deaths and marriages. It was obvious from the outset that, because of the age of much of the legislation concerned and the complexity of the issues involved, this review would take some considerable time to complete. As there was a pressing need for a stillbirths register which would act as a focus for the grief of bereaved parents, I decided not to have the stillbirths issue await the outcome of the general review but to bring forward the necessary legislation separately. The Stillbirths Registration Act was enacted early in 1994 with all-party support.
The general review of the registration legislation is a complex process which cannot be completed in the short term. As the format of the birth certificate was clearly discriminatory and could be amended in a relatively simple measure, I took the view that this change should also be dealt with in a separate Bill. I am, of course, fully committed to progressing the general review which is likely to result in extensive changes to the registration legislation.
Section 1 and the Schedule are the main elements of this Bill. I will deal with these together as they are closely related. Section 1 provides that a new format of register entry, as set out in the Schedule, will apply to births registered or re-registered after the commencement date. Although the Bill makes no reference to the birth certificate itself, the birth certificate automatically reflects the details of the register entry. The new format set out in the Schedule is similar to the form of the stillbirth certificate. It is gender neutral. The new certificate will show the occupations of both parents and will record the mother's address as well as that of the father. There will no longer be any reference to a "maiden name". Instead, any former names of both mother and father will be recorded. These will include any changes of name on marriage, by deed-poll or by any other means. Unlike the existing birth certificate, the new certificate will show the child's surname.
The absence of a surname on the existing birth certificate has led to a widespread belief that a child automatically takes the father's surname. This is not the case as surnames are acquired by reputation and usage and there is no legal requirement or presumption that a child must take its father's name. However, in order to nail that myth and in keeping with the recommendation of the Second Commission on the Status of Women, it was decided to include the child's surname in the new format. Under section 1(3) the surname registered for the child can be that of either mother or father or both. However, a different surname can be registered if either parent so requests and if the Registrar General considers that the circumstances so warrant. This facility is intended to cover unusual circumstances where the restriction of the choice of surname would create difficulties. It is not envisaged that this would arise frequently.
Under the new format, it will still be possible to add a forename or forenames after the initial registration. This facility covers names given in baptism as well as the small number of cases where no forename is recorded at the initial registration. The new format will apply to both registrations and re-registrations which are effected after the commencement date. There are two types of re-registration. Under the Legitimacy Act, 1931, the parents of a child legitimated by those parents' marriage are required to have the child's birth re-registered. The second type of re-registration was introduced by the Status of Children Act, 1987. If the parents of a child are not married to each other and the child's father is not shown in the original register entry, this type of re-registration can be used to add paternity details.
The Bill provides that, in the case of re-registration of a birth which has already been registered in the new format, the surname of the child on re-registration remains unchanged. To avoid unnecessary re-registrations, the requirement to re-register under the Legitimacy Act, 1931, is waived if, as a consequence of the change in format, the new entry would be identical to the previous entry relating to that child.
Section 2 is a standard provision which allows the Registrar General to prescribe various forms for use for the purposes of this Bill. Section 3 is a technical provision which is necessary to effect a change in the format of the birth certificate. It allows the Registrar General to decide how and when register books are to be surrendered by registrars and new ones supplied. Existing legislation is extremely prescriptive about such matters and does not permit the surrender of incomplete register books. The introduction of a new format of entry in the births register necessarily entails the opening of new register books. Without the flexibility provided for in this section, it would not be possible to alter the format of the birth certificate.
Section 4 repeals the existing form of the entry in the births register — Form A annexed to the Registration of Births and Deaths (Ireland) Act, 1863 sets out the particulars to be registered. Sections 5 and 6 contain various amendments and repeals of forms consequential on the change of format of the birth certificate. Section 7 contains standard provisions about short title, citation, construction and commencement.
This is a short and relatively simple Bill which in essence replaces one set of particulars with another. It is an important Bill because it has the power to affect every future parent in the State. I have already adverted to the criticism of the present format of the birth certificate and I have received letters describing it as "demeaning", "grossly insulting", "offensive", "outmoded", "discriminatory" and "highly unsatisfactory". The new format recognises the equal status of mothers and is appropriate to today's society and to the status of women in that society. It brings the birth certificate from the mid-19th century to the present day and it gives effect to one of the recommendations of the Second Commission on the Status of Women.
I commend the Bill to the House.