Staffing and resolution of industrial relations issues in the Civil Registration Service are a matter for the HSE. However, I am concerned about the matter and my officials, while not directly involved in the dispute, have made the HSE aware of these concerns. I understand that discussions are ongoing and that good progress has been made and it should be possible to commence further sections of the Act early in 2016.
The Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 was signed into law in December 2014. The provisions of the Act are being commenced on a step by step basis dependent on factors including software development (which is well underway) and training of registrars. This work is being progressed as quickly as possible.
Section 13 of the Act provides for a record of deaths of Irish citizens who die while abroad (referred to in the Act as the ‘record of deaths abroad’). Section 13 has not yet been commenced.
The industrial action by employees of the Civil Registration Service of the Health Service Executive, while being a factor in the delay to the commencement of Section 13, does not in any way prevent the relatives of a person who dies outside the State obtaining a Death Certificate in the country where that death occurred. When a person dies outside the State a Death Certificate is issued by the authorities in that jurisdiction. This certificate is the official Death Certificate.
On commencement of section 13 of the Amendment Act, the recording of a death on the ‘record of deaths abroad’ will be non-mandatory. A certificate of entry on the record of deaths abroad does not purport to replace the Death Certificate.
