The Minister of State is very welcome to the House again. I thank him for attending this morning. I regret, however, that I must raise this issue yet again. Section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 remains uncommenced, despite assurances from the Government that it would be operational by the end of quarter 2 of this year. We are now at the close of quarter 4 and there is still nothing. This is my fifth time bringing this matter before the House. An entire ten years has passed since this legislation was agreed. The technical error was corrected in 2024 and the Government assured us last February that training would be completed and that we would see commencement by mid-2025. The promise has not been honoured.

The delays are not a mere administrative inconvenience; they have a real human cost. For a decade, unmarried fathers have been denied the right to have their names recorded on their children's birth certificates. This affects legal rights, identity and the ability of children to trace their lineage. In 2014, 37% of children were born outside marriage. By 2022, that figure rose to over 43%. This is not a marginal issue; it affects thousands of families and thousands of fathers.

I am asking for clarity. Why has the commitment to commence section 6 by quarter 2 not been met? What specific obstacles remain? When will the provision finally come into force? What steps will the Minister of State take to ensure this House is not debating the same question in another six months? Families have waited long enough and fathers have waited long enough. This level of delay would be farcical if it were not for the human damage it has caused in the past decade. It is time for action and no further excuses.

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, as she knows. This is a very important issue. I acknowledge that she has raised it in the House already by way of Commencement matter and that the Minister responded to her at the time.

The Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 principally amends and extends the Civil Registration Act 2004. As was previously outlined to the Senator, the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill was signed into law on 4 December 2014. This Act principally amends and extends the Civil Registration Act 2004 and contains 36 sections. These sections include important amendments to marriage legislation, which dealt with issues around marriages-of-convenience cases, and they have proven effective in reducing the number of such cases in the State. The Act also provided for an expansion to the list of persons who could register a death in the State. These sections relating to marriages and deaths have been commenced since 2015.

The sections relating to changes to birth registration were contained in sections 5 to 7, inclusive, and 9. These sections amended how births were re-registered and addressed the issue of the provision of details of a father, as highlighted by the Senator, as well as addressing issues facing registration staff at local office level, such as allowing for birth registrations in circumstances where a parent could not attend to sign the register of births due to reasons of hardship.

Section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014, as referred to by the Senator, introduces new provisions that require a mother not married to the father of her child to provide his particulars to a registrar when she is registering the birth. Section 6 amends section 22 of the Civil Registration Act 2004.

Prior to the amendment of section 22, where the mother was not married to the father of the child, there was no requirement on her to provide the details of the father of her child.

The amended section 22 sets out a process whereby the mother must inform the registrar of the name and contact details of the man she wishes to name as the father of her child. A letter informing the man that he has been named by the mother will be sent to him from the registration office. Registration of the father will then be dependent on the man acknowledging paternity of the child within 28 days of receipt of the letter.

Commencement of these provisions was subject to preparatory work and training of the registrars in the HSE by the General Register Office. An initial training program was delivered in early 2020. However, prior to the commencement of the provisions in 2020, a technical error was discovered in the relevant amending legislation. This error was corrected in the recently enacted Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Act 2024. This Act was signed into law by the President in July of last year.

The Senator will appreciate that given the passage of time since the initial training relating to this provision was delivered, officials in the Department of Social Protection, in consultation with the HSE, determined that further training would be required to ensure operational readiness prior to the commencement of the legislation. A further nationwide training programme for registration staff has been completed by the General Register Office. Training material, relevant documentation and updated forms have been provided to local registration staff, and technical issues around incorporating the IT system-related requirements of the changes into the existing civil registration computer system have been finalised.

I am pleased to inform the Senator that following the completion of the training and technical upgrades, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, signed the order to commence section 6 as and from yesterday, Wednesday, 10 December 2025. Officials from the Department of Social Protection are available and happy to engage further with the Senator on the matter.

I thank the Minister of State very much. I thank the Minister, Deputy Calleary, as well. I have been raising this issue every six months for about three years. This morning, many fathers out there will be absolutely delighted that this legislation was signed yesterday. I thank the Minister of State from all of the fathers in Ireland who have remained nameless on birth certificates over the past number of years. That has been rectified this morning. I thank him from the bottom of my heart on behalf of all of the fathers of Ireland.

I thank Senator Keogan for raising the matter. We all welcome the commencement of section 6, which will provide an opportunity for all father's names to be recorded in the register of births. As Senator Keogan knows, the number of birth registrations that do not contain a father's name is very low. It stands at less than 3%. However, it is the Government's view that, where possible, all children should have the right to know the details of both of their parents.

I remind everybody in the House that the new section will allow for circumstances whereby the mother can provide a statutory declaration to the registrar if she is unable to provide a name of the father. This provides a welcome safeguard for the mother and a mechanism whereby the registrar or superintendent registrar will have oversight of the implementation of this provision. The commencement of section 6 will also complete the commencement of all sections of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 in relation to the registration and re-registration of births. I thank Senator Keogan again for raising this matter.