Vol. 525 No. 2
211 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has considered correspondence sent by the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations to his predecessors regarding the public search room at Joyce House, Dublin 2; and if he will set out his plans to meet their concerns. [24477/00]
The administration of the registration system is a matter for An tArd-Chláraitheoir, the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and for local registrars who operate under his general direction.
The Registration of Births and Deaths Acts, 1863 to 1996, and the Marriages Acts of 1844 and 1863 provide that An t-Árd Chláraitheoir shall retain certified copies of the records of births, deaths and marriages returned to him on a quarterly basis by local registrars and that he shall compile and make available an index to such records at his office. Persons are entitled, under statute, to search these indexes on the payment of the approved fees and to obtain certified copies of entries identified from the index.
The future development of the registration service is being considered in the context of the joint initiative being undertaken by my Department and the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs to identify and implement the changes necessary to provide a modern and effective service based on the electronic recording of vital events. It is intended to capitalise on the use of modern technology to capture registration information in an electronic format at the point of registration in a modern, efficient and legally adequate system. It is proposed that in the future records of life events will be linked. The objective is to implement a modern, efficient and effective system geared to the needs of the 21st century. Funding of £7.3 million for the modernisation programme was approved in 1999.
The Deputy may also be aware of the steps that are being taken to maintain and improve indexes to the records of births, deaths and marriages including the special project for the capture of the records of births, deaths and marriages and associated indexes in an electronic format which has been ongoing in Roscommon for some time. When this archival records project is completed, it will improve the efficiency, flexibility, access and management of the records and the associated indexes and will provide potential for the development of a range of services, which would not be possible in a system reliant on printed indexes.
