Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2022
92. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps that she is proposing to simplify the process of registering a death to make it easier for bereaved families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34988/22]
View answerThe obligation to register a death rests primarily with a family member of the deceased. Deaths are currently required to be registered within three months of the day of death.
The General Register Office (GRO), which operates under the aegis of my Department, has initiated discussions across Government on modernising the way that deaths are registered. This follows work by the GRO to revise the manner in which all life events are registered and to provide for online and other electronic means of registering births, marriages and deaths in the State. The objective is to make it easier for parents, couples and, with respect to deaths, families who have suffered bereavements, to access civil registration services without the need to attend in person to register key life events.
Recommendations to update our current process of registration of deaths have been made by the World Health Organisation, NPHET and the Central Statistics Office. A GRO led inter-agency working group finalised a number of proposals in early 2021 on revising our current process for death registration. The proposals center on moving from the current paper-based system of registration to digital and online registration processes. Additionally, other requirements to ensure that deaths are notified quickly and that medical practitioners can certify the medical cause of death electronically were put forward.
These proposals formed the basis of a public consultation process. The responses to that consultation included feedback from a number of people who had suffered bereavement. The working group is currently finalising its consideration of the submissions received and will be reflecting on what arrangements need to be put in place to ensure any revision to the current process minimises the burden on families.
Any changes will require amendment to the Civil Registration Act 2004 and will, therefore, require consideration and approval from Government before legislation can be drafted, I would hope to bring a memorandum to Government in the autumn.
