I assume the Deputy is referring to a system of law that would require an unmarried father to register his name on the birth certificate of his child and that such registration would give automatic rights of guardianship to the father.
Under the law as it stands, the entry of an unmarried father's name on his child's birth certificate is prima facie evidence that he is the father of that child. While birth registration constitutes an important method of establishing parentage it has no effect, under our law, on the guardianship rights of the father. I should add, however, that a father's duty to maintain his child and his right to apply to the court for custody of or access to his child is not contingent on his being made a guardian.
I have indicated to the House on several occasions in response to questions that policy in our law on guardianship as contained in the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964, and the Status of Children Act, 1997, has been the subject of review in the course of preparation of the Bill which led to the Children Act, 1997, and that in the course of preparation of that Bill I strengthened it in the area of guardianship, custody and access with a provision that the court, in settling disputes in relation to children, must have regard to whether the child's best interests would be served by maintaining personal relations and direct contact with both his or her father and mother on a regular basis. That provision was inspired by the provision in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child now referred to by the Deputy. The Deputy will, of course, appreciate that in settling disputes between parents the court must decide cases on the basis of the welfare of the child being paramount. That is a feature of the law in many other jurisdictions.
There are no further proposals to amend the law in this area, although its operation is being kept under review.
