Eoin Ryan
Question:169 Mr. E. Ryan asked the Minister for Health and Children the individual or body responsible for registering church marriages and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19320/99]
Written Answers. - General Register Office.
Eoin Ryan
Question:170 Mr. E. Ryan asked the Minister for Health and Children the individual or body responsible for the registration of church marriages; the estimated cost of the registration by those involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19321/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 169 and 170 together.
The administration of the registration system is a matter for An tÁrd-Chláraitheoir – the Registrar General for Births, Deaths and Marriages – and for local registrars who operate under his general direction.
Provision is made for the civil registration of marriages, including marriages according to the rites and ceremonies – usages of the different religious denominations. The manner in which marriages are registered is provided for under the Marriage (Ireland) Act, 1844, and the Registration of Marriages (Ireland) Act, 1863. Depending on the denominational nature of the marriage ceremony, the registration will be effected by a Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages, the solemnising minister or the Registrar for Civil Marriages. There is no fee directly payable by a party to a religious marriage for the civil registration of that marriage. Fees payable to a Registrar of Marriages are set out in SI No. 278 of 1987, in respect of a certified copy of the entry in the marriage register.