Jim O'Keeffe
Question:27 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children the approach being proposed for the new civil registration system. [4879/03]
Written Answers - Civil Registration System.
My Department and the Department of Social and Family Affairs are engaged in a major project to modernise the civil registration service. A consultation document Bringing Civil Registration into the 21st Century, published in 2001, set out the two phased approach to the modernisation of the service and invited submissions from interested parties.
The focus in the initial stage of the project is on the introduction of new information systems, procedures and legislation to facilitate the electronic registration of vital events including births, stillbirths, deaths, marriages and adoptions and the electronic production of certificates. In addition, the archival records held by the General Register Office and the associated indexes are being converted to an electronic format in a separate project in Roscommon. Phase two of the modernisation will focus on the development of external access and services via the Internet to facilitate a wider group of users.
Consultations were held with a number of interests. These included service providers, other bodies directly associated with the provision of the registration service, groups representing users of the service who had responded to the consultation document and representatives of the unions involved.
The legal changes necessary to enable the direct electronic registration of births and deaths and the holding of birth, death and marriage records in an electronic format were included in the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002. The other provisions required to facilitate the wider modernisation of the registration service are being included in a new civil registration Bill, the drafting of which is currently being finalised.
The implementation of a modern CRS is at the heart of providing better public services to citizens through the Government's modernisation programme. It is a key building block underpinning the integration of public service delivery and electronic Government objectives of providing more convenient access to services. The new service will facilitate the sharing of information between Government agencies. Future registration of vital events will include a personal public service number. It will be used as a unique customer reference number by public service providers, thereby facilitating opportunities for streamlining the provision of services from other Departments and public service organisations, as appropriate.
The new system was successfully piloted from December 2002 to January 2003. The roll-out of the system to offices throughout the country will begin soon.