Richard Bruton
Ceist:156 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will consider introducing a new system for recording verdicts on death certificates. [31198/01]
Written Answers. - Death Certificates.
Responsibility for this matter lies with my colleague the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, but it was not possible to transfer the question to his Department in time. I have, however, been supplied with the following material for reply by my colleague the Minister for Health and Children.
The administration of the registration system, including the registration of deaths, is a matter for An tÁrd-Chláraitheoir – the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages – and for local registrars who operate under his general direction. The details to be registered in relation to a death are set out in section 30 of the Births and Deaths Registration (Ireland) Act, 1863, and the schedule to that Act. These include date and place of death, name and age of the deceased, occupation and cause of death. Certified copies of entries in the register of deaths – death certificates – include all details contained in the relevant entry in the register of deaths. I presume the Deputy is referring to the inclusion of the cause of death on these certificates.
As the Deputy may be aware, the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs have been engaged in the review of the entire registration system. The review is examining registration law and the structure of registration on a national basis in order to identify the changes needed to capitalise on the use of modern computer technology to capture registration information in an electronic format at the point of registration. The objective is to implement a modern, efficient, effective and customer focused service geared to the needs of the 21st century. The modernisation of the registration service will improve the efficiency, flexibility, access and management of the records and the associated indexes. The modernisation project has received submissions from a number of parties following the launch of its consultation document last May covering a range of issues and this consultation process is continuing. The possible issue of certified extracts from the registers of deaths, as proposed by the Deputy, in relation to events registered from a prospective date is being considered in the context of the modernisation of the civil registration service.