Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 January 2019
1037. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps she will take to amend the laws surrounding presumed legitimacy to simplify the process for women seeking a divorce and attempting to register the birth of a child whose father is not their husband from whom they are seeking a divorce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1537/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraProvisions for registration of births in cases where the parents are not married to each other are set out in section 22 of the Civil Registration Act 2004. In particular, where the mother is still legally married to a person other than the father of the child, the provisions in section 22(3) apply. In these circumstances the father’s name may be registered on foot of:
- A statutory declaration by the woman’s husband that he is not the father of the child, or
- A statutory declaration by the woman that she has been living apart from her husband during the period of 10 months ending immediately before the birth of the child by virtue of a decree of divorce, a decree of divorce a mensa et thoro, a decree of nullity or a deed of separation.
Alternatively, it is open to either the mother or father to apply for a Court Order under Section 45 of the Status of Children Act 1987 naming the person other than her husband as the father of the child. Upon receipt of this court order, the birth will be registered with the named person as the father of the child, in accordance with section 22(2)(d).
Section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 amends section 22 to make it possible, in certain circumstances, for a person other than the mother’s husband to be registered as the father of the child without any of the decrees, deeds or court order mentioned above. These provisions, however, remain to be commenced pending agreement from the HSE to the delivery of training to staff of the Civil Registration Service, who are employees of the HSE.
Officials from my Department, the GRO, the Department of Health, and the HSE are maintaining their best efforts to ensure that commencement of this legislation can be brought about as soon as possible.
I also intend to bring forward measures in the Civil Registration Bill 2019 that will make it less onerous for a woman in these circumstances to rebut the automatic assumption of paternity of her husband. This will better align civil registration legislation with current presumption of paternity provisions set out in section 46 of the Status of Children Act 1987, following commencement of section 88 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 in early 2016. Implementation of these new measures will also be dependent on training of registrars in the HSE.
