Public consultation on proposed targeted amendments to the Civil Registration Act 2004 for persons affected by incorrect/ illegal birth registration

The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, has launched a public consultation on proposed targeted amendments to the Civil Registration Act 2004 (as amended by the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022) to address issues identified in discussions with people affected by incorrect / illegal birth registrations.

The Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 brought in amendments to the Civil Registration Act 2004 to address issues arising for persons affected by illegal birth registration. These included amendments to allow an affected person’s birth registration to be corrected; to create a separate registration in a new register (the ‘register under Part 3B’) to reflect a person’s ‘lived’ or ‘social’ identity; and to create an index linking this new register to the register of births.

In the course of discussions between people affected by illegal birth registration and officials of the Department, concerns have been raised about aspects of the legislation:

• Entries on the new register under Part 3B (reflecting people’s ‘lived’ or ‘social’ identity) are closed to the public, apart from the affected person (and, in certain cases, their immediate family members). This prevents extended family, future generations and third parties (such as researchers) from accessing these records, regardless of the affected person’s wishes.
• Understandably, issues of terminology can give rise to particular sensitivities in contexts such as illegal birth registration. The legislation refers to the “cancellation” of incorrect entries on the register of births and this language requires improvement.
• The title of the ‘register under Part 3B’ might also be improved by using a more descriptive title that better reflects the purpose of the register. The current title may be thought to reflect a continuation of the practices of the past where information was withheld, hidden or otherwise not openly acknowledged.

The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has worked closely with the General Register Office (GRO) to develop targeted amendments that respond to the feedback received from affected persons.

The Minister is seeking to consult with affected persons and their families and other relevant parties about the proposed changes and to ensure, as far as possible, that all affected persons’ views are heard and taken into account as part of the consultation process.

The proposed amendments aim to broaden access to an affected person’s information where the affected person so wishes and to improve the terminology used in the legislation. As a result of the proposed amendments:

1. Affected persons would be able to request that the General Register Office (GRO) make the index linking their entries on the register of births and the new register under Part 3B:

a) open to public inspection or

b) open to inspection by particular named individuals.

If no request is made by the affected person, the index will remain closed to public inspection as before.

1. The language used in the legislation will be amended. It is suggested that:

a) instead of saying that a person’s incorrect birth registration has been ‘cancelled’, the revised legislation will say that the incorrect birth registration has been ‘withdrawn’

b) The ‘register under Part 3B’ will be renamed ‘the register of lived identity’

Affected people, their families and other relevant parties who would prefer different wording are being asked to indicate the terminology they would prefer, as part of the consultation.

Please complete our online survey:

https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/IBRSurvey2026

(Note: Both English and Irish-language options are available on the survey page.)

If you are unable to complete the survey linked above, please send a completed template form:

English Language Template Document

Irish Language Template Document

• By email to: IBRsurvey2026@dcde.gov.ie

or:

• By post to: Public Consultation, Adoption Policy Unit, Department of Children, Disability and Equality, Block 1, Miesian Plaza, 50-58 Baggot Street, Dublin 2, D02 XWI4, Freepost F5055.

Please contact us if you would like to receive a printed copy of the response form.

Survey responses should be in English or Irish. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to consider responses that do not use the survey link or the template form.

If you need assistance in completing your response, you may wish to contact the Office of the Special Advocate for Survivors of Institutional Abuse.

By Email: info@specialadvocate.ie

By Phone: +353 (0)1 511 7660

By Post: c/o Special Advocate for Survivors of Institutional Abuse, First Floor, Holbrook House, Holles Street, Dublin 2, D02 EY84, Ireland

Please note that this consultation should only be completed by people over the age of 18.

All responses received will be reviewed and will inform the drafting of the targeted amendments to Part 3B of the Civil Registration Act 2004 (as amended by the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022) in respect of persons affected by incorrect/illegal birth registration.

Please note that the Department of Children, Disability and Equality will publish an update on this consultation in due course. This may include a summary of the responses received. This will be fully anonymised; no identifying information will be included in the summary.

This is a public consultation. Survey responses may be subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 and are also subject to Data Protection legislation. Please do not include any personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information in your responses. It will be presumed that any information you provide can be released. Please read the Department’s information on data protection here and its privacy notice here.

The closing date for receipt of submissions is 5pm on 10 April 2026.

If you have any queries, please email IBRsurvey2026@dcde.gov.ie

Separate to this consultation, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality is also carrying out a statutory review of the operation of the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022, to look at what is working well and what needs to be improved. Details of how people can take part in this broader review will be published in due course.