Social Welfare, Civil Registration and Charities (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Cormac Devlin (FF), Dún Laoghaire

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Social Welfare, Civil Registration and Charities (Amendment) Bill 2026. While the Bill is largely technical in nature, it really matters to the people it impacts. The changes to the civil registration are straightforward and welcome. Tusla will be able to re-register a father's details for a child in its care on foot of a court declaration or order. The notification of deaths is modernised so a hospital or doctor can authorise another person to notify the General Register Office within five working days. These are sensible and practical reforms, and I support them. The most important changes in this part of the Bill are for people whose births were illegally registered. For decades babies were placed with couples and registered as if they had been born to them. There was no adoption order. There was no record they could find. For many, there was no knowledge at all. In 2018, Tusla identified 126 illegal registrations in the records of St. Patrick’s Guild, covering the years 1946 to 1969. That number has since risen to 151 confirmed cases. The Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 gave those affected the right to an accurate birth registration and legal recognition of the identity they have lived. That was real progress, and I acknowledge the work of successive Ministers, Tusla and the General Register Office in getting there.
This Bill builds on that. Under the current law an incorrect entry on the register of births is cancelled. For people who have lived their whole lives under the name, that word was deeply hurtful to them and to their families. It suggested that their identity had simply been struck out. This Bill removes that, and I welcome it. Instead, the entry will be noted, kept on the record, but no longer issued as a certificate. A certificate from the new registration of lived identity will serve wherever a birth certificate is required. The Bill also lets people choose who can see their record, namely family members, or the public if they wish. That is their direction and decision, and it is right that the law now respects it. I welcome that the Department consulted survivors on these changes earlier in the year. That should be standard and not the exception. It would be helpful if survivor groups were consulted at every stage of this legislation, and I hope Committee Stage will assist in that regard.
There is one gap I ask the Minister to look at. Only the affected person can nominate someone or open their record. Where that person has passed away, their children and grandchildren have no way to make that choice. A provision allowing a personal representative or next of kin to exercise it would be a reasonable amendment, and a helpful one. I ask the Minister to consider it for Committee Stage. Survivors and their families want to see the outstanding issues resolved. The youngest of those in the St. Patrick’s Guild records are now in their 50s and the eldest are approaching 80 and time is ticking. I have raised the case of Susan Kiernan in this House before. Sadly, Susan has passed away. I know the Minister is aware of the case, as are many who have been in his position. These provisions also need a commencement order, and I urge the Minister to make it as soon as possible when the Bill is enacted.
I turn to the social protection appeals. The Bill sets a two-year window for requesting a review of a decision by an appeals officer or the chief appeals officer. That is sensible and it is in line with the approach to reviews elsewhere in the system. This Bill also gives the chief appeals officer a new power to annul a flawed decision and send it back to an appeals officer for fresh consideration. However, the bigger issue for most people is how long an appeal itself takes in the first place. I will return to that, and I know the Minister is prioritising it.
I turn to the public services card. Its establishment was messy. As an old Irish saying goes, "If I were going there, I would not start from here." I have always said that the Government should have introduced comprehensive and clear legislation at the outset. That said, I welcome the provisions allowing the card to be used as proof of identity, and as proof of age where the holder asks for their date of birth to be added. Passports and driving licences cost money and many young people have neither. This will help them to prove who they are, to open a bank account and join a credit union, etc. It must remain the cardholder’s choice, and the Bill keeps it an offence for anyone outside the public services to demand it.
A card is only useful if you can get one, however. Anyone without a current Irish passport cannot register through the MyGovID app, so they need an appointment in person. The most common public services card issue raised with me in my office is simply getting that appointment. The Minister will know that I have raised this on many occasions and in parliamentary questions. A proper online booking system available at every public services centre is necessary. My constituents in Dún Laoghaire and those around the country should be able to book a slot online, at a time that suits them, as they already can for driver’s licences. I would welcome progress on this.
Equally, I would welcome progress on the time taken to process appeals. Behind every average is a person waiting. I have constituents who have waited significant periods for a final answer with no income in the meantime. Many of those appealing are people with disabilities, carers and families on low incomes. For them, every week of delay costs money that they do not have. Better first decisions would mean fewer appeals. Clearer information on how long an appeal would take would ease a great deal of worry. The appeals office should have the resources in it to clear the caseload.
Finally, as I have the Minister here and budget 2027 is approaching, I would like to highlight a number of points. It is clear households are going to face a very challenging winter. The war in the Gulf has doubled wholesale gas prices compared with last year. Electric Ireland raised its prices in July. SSE Airtricity's increase adds an average of €310 a year for 296,000 customers, and Bord Gáis Energy's increase will add an estimated €317 to the average household bill from 9 October. Gas prices are already around 90% higher than they were four or five years ago and electricity is around 70% higher. The situation has further deteriorated recently and a general energy credit needs to be examined to shield householders from the worst of the increases. We also need to see generous increases in pensions, social welfare payments and child benefit, so that income keeps pace with the cost of heating a home and feeding and clothing a family.
I ask the Minister to build on last year's progress in the budget, in particular on the fuel allowance, which rose to €38 a week in January, and families on the working family payment now qualify. That was the right decision. This year the rate should rise again and the income thresholds should be extended so that more households on modest incomes are brought in.
In the last few minutes remaining to me I wish to raise the amendment to the Charities Act 2009. I am aware of a recent case where a charity with no assets at all went through a huge rigmarole to try to merge with another charity. That needs to be streamlined. It might not be addressed in this particular amendment, but it is something that we need to be cognisant of. I accept there need to be safeguards around charities and a whole system around it but there needs to be a varying degree of charities, some of which can easily either cease to trade or merge with others because that is going to come more to the fore as time goes on.
I thank the Minister and his officials for their work on this Bill and in modernising services in the Department. I look forward to continuing to engage with him as this Bill progresses during and before the budget preparations.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22