asked the Minister for Health if the birth registration forms should be amended to include the mother's as well as the father's occupation.
38.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Questions. - Birth Registration Forms.
17.
asked the Minister for Health if it is his intention to introduce legislation to raise the minimum age of marriage.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 38 together.
The issues raised by the Deputies are being considered in the context of a comprehensive review of the laws relating to the registration of births, deaths and marriages, and associated matters, being undertaken by me.
I am afraid the Minister's reply is totally unsatisfactory in the context of the question I tabled. Is the Minister aware that it is a totally outdated practice to presume that one parent only is in paid occupation? Would he agree that it is something in respect of which the State should be giving a lead in official documents? Can he not give the House a commitment to have this matter changed at an early date?
I appreciate what the Deputy says and that the Acts which govern this — three in all, dating back to 1844, 1863 and 1880 — do warrant attention. In that context, we appreciate various other decisions taken, the various recommendations of the Law Reform Commission and others. It was only in September last that I assumed responsibility for this matter. We are at present having the matter examined. It is a very complex area warranting careful attention. We hope to bring forward proposals as quickly as possible but I cannot say now how soon that may be.
With all due respect to the Minister, that is a lot of nonsense. Would the Minister not agree that we are talking about something that merely needs a stroke of the pen to effect the necessary change? Legislation is not needed to change the application form for birth registration purposes. It is a lot of nonsense for the Minister to waffle on about considerations and so on. This has been the case in regard to issues like this for far too long.
The Minister should take a decision and make a name for himself.
I am very disappointed that the Deputy should use the word "nonsense" when referring to my reply. I should point out to her that the format of an entry in the Register of Births is laid down in an annex to the Births and Deaths Registration (Ireland) Act, 1863. To contend that we may amend it merely by the stroke of a pen is not correct.
It is nearly time it was reexamined, after 126 years.
That is not the position and, if it were, it would have been done long ago. In the light of the various complexities which have arisen and the various recommendations made, in addition to other Acts passed by this House, the overall position is being examined at present. We hope to bring forward clear, definite guidelines——
The Minister should set up another committee, there are 22 sitting at present.
That is probably what the Deputy would do when in office.
There are 22 of them sitting already.
We must move on to Question No. 18.
We hope to bring forward these proposals as quickly as possible and it would be my hope that they would not contain any nonsense.
With regard to the subject of the second question, the minimum marriage age, does the Minister have in mind introducing legislation on this matter?
That is Deputy Flanagan's question?
Yes, it was a recommendation of the Joint Committee on Marriage Breakdown.
There have been various changes pertaining to the age of majority and so on, all of which will have to be taken into consideration.
When will the Minister cease reviewing and do something?
I might say to the Deputy that one must take into account various other laws and regulations passed. That may be what the Deputy's party did when they played some part in Government but it is not the road the Minister or I propose taking.
Legislation that is 126 years old.
Would the Minister agree that his by-passing this road will render it necessary to have a Private Members' Bill introduced on this subject also? Would he agree that it is the role of Government to introduce such legislation?
I want to make it quite clear that we are totally committed to doing this. We shall endeavour to bring the necessary legislation forward as quickly as possible.
The Minister is committed to review, is that the case?
I did not notice much work done on it——
The Minister is committed to reviewing.
We are committed to reviewing the overall position and having it improved as quickly as we can.