asked the Minister for Health, in view of the fact that it would appear that Ireland is one of the few countries in which birth certificates are not issued for stillborn children and given the effect that this has on parents many of whom are rightly concerned since their children are baptised, if he will agree to change the regulation to ensure that birth certificates can issue for babies who are stillborn if the parents so request.

11.

asked the Minister for Health the number of babies who are stillborn or suffer neo-natal death; and if he will introduce registration of such cases both in the interest of medical research and so that the family would have some formal record.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 11 together.

The most recent figures relating to the number of babies who are stillborn refer to 1981 when there were 600 such cases. The figures for neo-natal deaths are for 1983 when there were 389 cases.

In the case of neo-natal deaths, that is deaths of liveborn infants aged under 4 weeks, both the birth and the death of the infant are registered and birth certificates or death certificates can be obtained as required.

In the case of babies who are stillborn, the present legislation provides for their notification to the public health authorities and the records are available for medical research. There is no legal provision for the issue of birth certificates for such children. There has not in the past been any obvious need or demand for such provision.

A comprehensive review of registration procedures has recently commenced and the question of whether arrangements should be made which would enable birth certificates to be issued for stillborn children will be considered as part of this review.

Can the Minister tell us when that review will take place and if he will be prepared to include the matter of stillborn children in the review? Would he agree that Ireland is one of the few countries in which birth certificates are not issued in respect of stillborn children? These babies are baptised.

The principal factor to date in the case of the stillbirths appears to be the requirement to ensure the availability of accurate statistical information. For that reason the main responsibility within the existing system for the notification of stillbirths was not vested in the relatives as is the case in respect of live births. Instead, the notification of stillbirths rests with the professional staff involved in the delivery of the babies. This system works quite well. If stillbirths were to be registered there might be involved a change in the prime responsibility for notifying those events from the professional staff to the parents.

Is the Minister aware that Ireland is one of the few countries in which birth certificates are not issued in respect of babies that are stillborn?

I do not have the information regarding the practice in other countries. In 1981 there were 600 stillbirths notified here. That represented a considerable decrease from the 1971 figure of 880. I would make the point that while it might be important to some parents to establish a permanent record of a stillbirth, there might not be sufficient cause for parents of stillborn children in general to ensure their taking the necessary steps to effect registration. That would create the risk of a possible disimprovement in the availability of public information that is required. That possibility must be guarded against.

Will the Minister consider the matter in the context of the review?

The review has been in progress for the past 12 months or so. I assure the Deputy that the new Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages who is the Secretary of the Department of Health has assured me that this factor will be taken into account in the review.

The Minister says that the transfer of registration in this case to families might involve the risk of less accurate medical records but would he not agree that the family should at least have the option of registering a stillborn child? Surely that would not interfere with the quality of the statistical record provided by the hospitals.

I take the point made by the Deputy. It is a sensitive point. In some cases parents of stillborn children may wish to have tangible evidence in the form of a certificate that a baby was born to them. I have no objection to that but the dual system would be necessary to ensure that the information is collected and collated properly. However, I am prepared to review the position. I might add that the legislation has not been reviewed for many decades.