Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Apr 1991

Vol. 407 No. 6

Written Answers. - Birth Certificate Query.

Andrew Boylan

Ceist:

154 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that (1) a person (details supplied) in County Cavan cannot get a birth certificate and (2) as a result he cannot be issued with a passport in his name; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that the registrar of births told him on the receipt of a letter from St. Felim's Hospital, Cavan, where he was born and a copy of baptismal certificate that he would be issued with a birth certificate which has not occurred; and his views on whether this person is being denied his right as an Irish citizen in not getting a proper birth certificate.

Minister for Health (Dr. O'Hanlon):

The administration of the civil registration system is a matter for the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and for local registrars who operate under his general direction.

I am informed by the registrar-general that where births are not registered within one year of the date of their occurrence they can be registered only on his authority after certain legal requirements are met. The person in question, whose birth had not been registered within the required period of one year, contacted the general register office in 1989. It transpired at that stage that the applicant had difficulty in procuring the necessary documentary evidence to enable registration to proceed in the manner which he desired. The application was the subject of several phone and and written communications and when the applicant was last contacted in August 1989 he was fully advised as to his options and the manner in which he should proceed. He has now been written to again and asked to indicate his intentions with regard to the application.