Vol. 492 No. 5
57 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the proposals, if any, he has to make it mandatory that the name of the father of every child should be on the child's birth certificate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10178/98]
I presume the Deputy is referring to a situation where the parents of a child are not married to each other. Existing legislation on registration of births facilitates the inclusion of the father's name on the birth certificate where both parents so wish it. If the mother of a child wishes to register the father's name without his agreement, she can do so by securing an appropriate court order naming the father of the child. Likewise, if a father wished to be named on the certificate against the wishes of the mother he could do so on production of such a court order.
I fully appreciate the importance of having a record of both parents on the register from the point of view of the child and in the wider social context. However, requiring under law that the fathers name must be on the birth certificate would be an extremely complex matter with many serious difficulties for which there are no easy solutions. My Department is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the whole system of registering births, deaths and marriages so that a more modern civil registration system can be put in place to meet current and future needs. The issue will be examined in the context of this review.
