Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 December 2004
136 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the reason the details of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 20 have not been removed from the birth certificate of a person (details supplied) in the General Register Office despite that office having admitted in a letter to the parent that a fraud had been committed in including his name as father; and when such steps will be taken. [32961/04]
View answer137 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the steps that have been taken to correct the register of births in cases where a fraud relating to the parents’ names on birth certificates has been reported or detected; the mechanisms available to the victims of such a fraud to correct the register; if the General Register Office has informed the Passport Office and other relevant authorities of each reported fraud to prevent its perpetuation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32962/04]
View answer138 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to a number of frauds perpetrated against unsuspecting single mothers who gave birth in some of Dublin’s maternity hospitals, involving individuals adding a name to the child’s birth certificate as the father, unbeknownst to the mother, getting a copy of the certificate and using it to purchase passports for other children; the number of such cases reported to her Department and to the General Register Office; the number of such cases investigated; the number of prosecutions in such cases; and to make a statement on the measures introduced to prevent such fraud. [32963/04]
View answerI propose to take Question Nos. 136 to 138, inclusive, together.
The administration of the registration system for births, stillbirths, deaths and marriages, is statutorily a matter for an tArd-Chláraitheoir, Registrar-General, of births, deaths and marriages and for the superintendent registrars and registrars who operate under his general direction.
Section 30 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act (Ireland) 1880 provides that it is an offence to wilfully give false information to a registrar for the purpose of registering a birth. Where such an issue arises, the matter is referred to the Garda Síochána for investigation. The particular entry in the register of births referred to by the Deputy was referred to the appropriate authorities. There were three other cases of a similar nature at that particular time. The procedures for the registration of births was reviewed following these incidents and currently incorporate a requirement that proof of identity be produced to the registrar by an informant, the person who gives the information and who will sign the entry in the register, in order to ensure the proper registration of births and prevent any irregularity or false registration.
The Deputy will appreciate that the decision whether to prosecute a particular case through the courts is a not a matter for an tArd-Chláraitheoir. An tArd-Chláraitheoir has advised that his office is in correspondence with solicitors representing the mother of the child to whom the entry refers and has indicated the procedure through which the matter may be resolved. This procedure, which entails an application to the courts to determine the parentage of the child, will also address the alleged irregularity in the current registration of the birth. I understand that the necessary documentation has not as yet been received by an tArd-Chláraitheoir.
