Social Welfare, Civil Registration and Charities (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22 ============================================================ John Paul O'Shea (FG), Cork North-West I rise to support the Social Welfare, Civil Registration and Charities (Amendment) Bill 2026. As the Chair of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Rural and Community Development, I had the opportunity to see at first hand the detailed work that went into the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. The committee considered the general scheme of the Bill on three separate occasions. We heard from officials in the relevant Departments and, importantly, we also heard from a wide range of stakeholders and experts, including the Data Protection Commission, the UCD Centre for Digital Policy, Age Action, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Digital Rights Ireland. This engagement was extremely valuable. The committee submitted its pre-legislative scrutiny report to the Minister for Social Protection on 2 July. The report contains 24 recommendations covering areas such as digital public services, the public services card and the operation of the social welfare appeals office. I acknowledge the work of committee members in producing the report and I welcome the fact that the recommendations will be considered on Committee Stage. At its heart, the Bill seeks to modernise and improve a number of important areas of public administration. There are a number of technical amendments to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, including with regard to outdated references and formally repealing the pre-retirement allowance scheme, which closed to new entrants almost 20 years ago. There are also important changes proposed in relation to the public services card. I particularly welcome the proposal that a person can, at their own discretion, use their public services card as a form of identification with a non-specified body such as a credit union, a bank or a utility provider. There is also provision for a person's date of birth to be included on their public services card where they request this, allowing the card to be used as a means of verifying their age. However, these changes also underline the importance of getting privacy, data protection and individual choice right. The committee's engagement with the Data Protection Commission, digital policy experts and civil liberty organisations was particularly important in this regard. Digitalisation can make public services easier and more accessible but it must always be accompanied by strong safeguards. People should have confidence that their personal information is being handled properly and that they retain appropriate control over how their identification is used. I also welcome the amendments designed to improve the operation of the social welfare appeals office. For people who are depending on a social welfare payment an appeal is not simply an administrative matter. It can have a very real impact on their ability to meet everyday household costs. An appeals system must, therefore, be fair, accessible and efficient. I welcome the efforts made to improve its operation. The amendments to the Civil Registration Act are important. The Bill will make a number of practical changes to improve the functionality of the General Register Office, including provisions relating to the registration and reregistration of births, notification of deaths and the information required when registering a birth online. I particularly welcome the provision enabling Tusla to register or reregister the birth of a child with the father's details on foot of a court order. There are also important provisions for people who have been affected by incorrect or illegal birth registration, including changes in terminology in the legislation. These are very sensitive issues that affect people's identity, family history and personal lives. It is important that our legislation reflects this reality and provides an appropriate framework for dealing with these cases. I welcome the amendments to the Charities Act 2009. The charitable and community sector plays an enormous role in our communities across Ireland. From large national organisations to small local community groups, charities provide services, supports and opportunities that make a real difference to people's lives. The proposed changes relating to the Charities Appeal Tribunal, including the provision for a quorum, the nomination of a deputy chairperson and the protections relating to witnesses, are important in ensuring this tribunal can operate effectively. A properly functioning regulatory appeals framework is essential to maintaining confidence in the charity sector. This Bill does not make one major change. Rather, it makes a collection of important amendments across social welfare, civil registration and the charities sector. That does not make it any less important. Good legislation also means keeping our existing laws up to date, removing provisions that are no longer relevant, improving administration processes and ensuring our public bodies can operate effectively. I believe the Bill makes progress on all of these fronts. I reiterate that the work undertaken by the joint committee has provided an important opportunity to examine these proposals in detail. The 24 recommendations contained in our report should continue to be considered carefully as the Bill progresses. Where improvements can be made, we should make them. Where stronger safeguards are required, we should put them in place. Where legislation can make people's interaction with the State simpler, fairer and more efficient, we should try to facilitate that. For the reasons outlined, I am happy to support the Social Welfare, Civil Registration and Charities (Amendment) Bill 2026. I look forward to its further consideration. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. 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