Brian Hayes
Ceist:457 Mr. B. Hayes asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of unmarried fathers who have put their name on the birth certificate of their child since the introduction of S.I. No. 5 of 1998. [1972/02]
Written Answers. - Register of Births.
The administration of the registration system is a matter for an t-Árd Chláraitheoir, the Registrar-General of births, deaths and marriages and for local registrars who operate under his general direction. I take it that the Deputy is referring to the number of births registered where the parents are not married to each other. I understand, from information supplied by the Central Statistics Office, that the numbers of births where parents were not married to each other for the years 1998 to 2000 were as follows: 1998, 15,492; 1999, 16,461; 2000, 17,235.
The Registration of Births and Deaths Acts, 1863 to 1996, set out the particulars to be entered in the register of births and the procedures for registration, including procedures provided by the Status of Children Act, 1987, for the registration and the re-registration of births of children who are not married to each other. These provisions enable the registrar to register such births subject to the requirements set out in section 49 of the Act.
Copies of all birth entries are made to an t-Árd Chláraitheoir, whose functions include the compilation of a national index to the records of births. However entries in respect of children whose parents are not married to each other are not specifically identified in the index and the information requested by the Deputy is not collated from the records. Where a birth is registered without paternity details, the re-registration of such births to include paternity details can only be effected with an authority issued by an t-Árd Chláraitheoir. The number of authorities issued by an t-Árd Chláraitheoir for the re-registration of births for the years 1998 to 2001 are as follows: 1998, 1,299; 1999, 1,367; 2000, 1,150; 2001, 1,092.