Dan Neville
Question:452 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will register a valid marriage (details supplied) which took place in County Limerick on 14 April 1999. [13387/02]
Written Answers. - Marriage Registration.
The administration of the system for the registration of marriages is a matter for An tÁrd-Chláraitheoir, the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and for local registrars who operate under his general direction. Section 32 of the Family Law Act, 1995 – No. 26 of 1995 – provides that a marriage shall not be valid unless both parties to a marriage have given three months written notification of their intention to marry to the appropriate registrar of marriages or an exemption to this requirement had been granted by the courts as provided by section 33 of the Act. Where the requirements set out in section 32 have not been fulfilled, a marriage is not valid in civil law and may not be registered. Unfortunately, the marriage referred to by the Deputy may not be registered because the three months notification required by section 32 of the Act of 1995 was not received by a registrar of marriages and a court exemption to the requirement to give three months written notification was not obtained.