Vol. 545 No. 1
226 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make microfilm copies of the registers from 1845 to 1931 and the indices from 1845 to 2000, which are held by the General Registry Office in Roscommon, available to the National Library, National Archives and other regional locations for the purposes of research; when such data will be available on CD Rom and accessible through the internet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29910/01]
227 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Health and Children when he will introduce legislation to enact the transfer of the General Registry Office to Roscommon town; the legislation he intends to amend; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29911/01]
228 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Health and Children when the transfer of staff to the General Registry Office in Roscommon town will be completed; the status of the computerisation of the records; when it is estimated that this computerisation will be completed; the cost of the project to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29912/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 226, to 228, inclusive, together.
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 General Register Office archive conversion project, which is currently under way in Roscommon, involves the capture of the records of over 150 years of births, deaths and marriages and associated indexes. It is estimated that the work will be substantially completed in 2002, which is a necessary prerequisite to the full decentralisation of the General Register Office. The conversion of the archive involves the scanning of the historical records of the office from 1845 to date and the conversion of the associated indexes to an electronic format to be retained on an electronic database.
The Deputy will appreciate that this is a major and complex undertaking. The second phase of the project, which will take place on completion of the computerisation of the archive, will involve the transfer of the administrative sections of the General Register Office to Roscommon. The cost to date of this work is estimated at £4.65 million, 5.9 million.
As the Deputy may be aware this project is part of a wider plan to modernise the registration service. My Department and the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs have been engaged in the review of the entire registration system, including registration law. The review also examined the structure of registration on a national basis in order to identify the changes needed to capitalise on the use of modern computer technology to capture registration information in an electronic format at the point of registration. The objective is to implement a modern efficient effective and customer focused service geared to the needs of the 21st century. The modernisation of the registration service will benefit all its customers throughout the country by improving the efficiency, flexibility, access and management of the records and the associated indexes.
