Birth Certificates
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-10
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. I thank the Senator for raising this in such a constructive and coherent manner, and for explaining the challenges and the request for change.
People affected by illegal birth registrations have raised a number of concerns with Department officials about aspects of Part 9 of the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022. The Senator will be aware that Part 9 amended the Civil Registration Act 2004 to allow an tÁrd-Chláraitheoir, the General Registrar, to receive or request information relating to people who were subject to an illegal birth registration; to correct an affected person's birth registration; to create a separate registration in the new register, the register under Part 3B, to reflect a person's lived or social identity; and to create an index linking the new register of lived identity to the register of births. In this way, Part 9 seeks to vindicate the affected person's right to an accurate birth registration and to give legal recognition to the person's lived identity.
The issue the Senator raised relates to the new index linking an affected person's lived identity to the register of births. A number of affected people have requested that the link between the two registers be made publicly available, where the affected people so wish. There is no difficulty in principle with amending Part 9 of the Act to allow the entry in the index to be made public, where the affected person so wishes. Such a change would not affect people who wish to keep their registration on the index of lived identity private. Officials of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality have been working the General Register Office and the special advocate for survivors, as well as affected people, with a view to amending the legislation.
While the Civil Registration Act 2004 falls under the remit of the General Register Office and the Department of Social Protection, the State's response to illegal birth registration falls within the ambit of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. The Senator will be aware that issues of terminology can give rise to particular sensitivities in the context of illegal birth registrations, reflecting the trauma experienced by affected people whose identities have been withheld from them for most of their lives. People affected by illegal birth registrations have raised concerns about the language used in the legislation, including notably, the use of the words "cancelled" and "cancellation" in relation to the affected person's incorrect registration and identity. From the perspective of an affected person, the cancellation of an entry in the register of births may be seen negatively or as disregarding the affected person's lived identity and experience. Many affected people continue to use their lived identities and do not want those identities to be cancelled. Before amending the legislation to improve the terminology used, Department officials will need to engage in a broader consultation process to ensure, as far as possible, that all affected people's views are heard and taken into account and this process will commence in the new year.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-10