asked the Minister for Health in view of the recent disclosure that certain marriages in County Offaly may not have been registered, if he will assure all concerned that the necessary resources will be made available to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to proceed with registration without delay as soon as the necessary information is supplied.
Written Answers. - Marriages Registration.
119.
I assume that the Deputy is referring to a report which appeared in the Irish Independent on 9 March 1989.
In 1983 registration officials in the Midland Health Board area found that a number of marriages recorded in the Roman Catholic Church register of a parish in County Offaly had not been submitted to the registration authorities for entry into the civil marriage records. Immediate efforts were made to contact the parties to these marriages and, as a result, most of the initially unregistered marriages have now, in fact, been registered.
In the case of those marriages remaining unregistered I can assure the Deputy that a procedure is available and as soon as the affected parties come forward to comply with the appropriate formalities the necessary steps will be taken to complete the registrations. Inquiries may be addressed either to the General Register Office in Dublin or to the Registration Office at the Health Centre, Arden Road, Tullamore.