Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman has offered a formal apology on behalf of the Government for the deep hurt caused to people whose births were illegally registered.
The Government is also introducing significant and wide-ranging measures to address issues arising for people affected by illegal birth registration.
This includes providing people who were illegally registered with clear and guaranteed access to information relating to their identity and the circumstances of their illegal birth registration, measures to allow for a corrected record and plans to amend the Succession Act to address inheritance issues arising for affected persons. The government will also provide for a statutory tracing service through which communication and contact between family members and people affected by illegal birth registration will be facilitated.
The government will establish a payment scheme to make once-off payments of €3,000 to the individuals affected by confirmed illegal birth registration in the files of St. Patrick’s Guild. These payments will represent a contribution towards costs which may arise in relation to DNA testing or legal fees which may be incurred in respect of seeking information on the implications of their birth registration.
