FAMILIES WILL BE able to register births and deaths online for the first time under, while the Register of Stillbirths will also be expanded.

It’s part of reforms to the Civil Register System that have been announced by Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys.

As part of the changes, families will no longer have to register births or deaths in person to an official registrar.

Instead, families can choose to complete the registration online.

Announcing the Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill 2023, Minister Humphreys said: “This Bill looks to modernise the Civil Registration Service where the current requirement to attend in person has gone unchanged since the introduction of civil registration in Ireland in 1864.”

The Bill will also allow for a death to be registered where a coroner’s inquest has not yet been concluded.

The Department noted that the current arrangement whereby deaths can only be registered once a coroner’s report is completed delays the death registration process and “creates practical difficulties for families who are seeking to manage the affairs of the deceased person”.

The timeframe in which a death must be registered has also been reduced from the current three-month timeframe to 28 days.

Minister Humphreys said this reduced timeframe follows a recent public consultation process and will “bring Ireland in line with death registration practices in other countries and will ensure that deaths are notified and registered at the earliest opportunity”.

Hospitals will also be required to notify the General Register Office of a death within two days, and it’s hoped that this improved collection of statistics on deaths will support public health management and monitoring.

The criteria for registering stillbirths has also been revised, something which has been called for by advocacy groups.

Access to the register of stillbirths will now be expanded to other relatives of the stillborn child, where currently only the parents may search the register and obtain a certificate.

“Parents and advocacy groups have lobbied for the changes to the stillbirth criteria and for broadening access to the Register of Stillbirths and I am very happy to support them by bringing forward the necessary legislation,” said Minister Humphreys.

The Bill also seeks to amend the criteria for the registration of stillbirths to “reflect advances in clinical practices and recommendations by the Department of Health”.

The current criteria permits registration where the stillborn child weights at least 500 grams or reaches a gestational age of 24 weeks.

The new proposals look to reduce these thresholds to 400 grams and 23 weeks respectively.