Press release

Minister Humphreys announces extension of temporary measures for the registration of births

From: Department of Social Protection
Published on: 28 August 2020
Last updated on: 15 April 2025

Parents will be able to electronically register the birth of their newborn babies up until the end of January 2021, according to Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD.

In the normal course, the registration of births is carried out at a civil registration office.

However, due to the exceptional circumstances posed by COVID-19, an electronic and postal facility was put in place by the General Register’s Office earlier this year. The facility was due to expire at the end of the month.

Today (28 August 2020), Minister Humphreys secured Cabinet approval to extend this option to parents until the end of January 2021.

Since the temporary measures were introduced in March this year, 22,420 children have had their births registered.

Speaking about the measure, Minister Humphreys said:

“The government has agreed to my proposal to extend a number of temporary measures to ensure the continued operation of registration services.

“Among these proposals is to allow parents to register births electronically or via the post. This is to ensure that this process is made as easy as possible for parents, who like the rest of us are trying to deal with COVID-19 as best as possible.

“I also proposed that staff of the General Register Office (which is part of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection) should be able to perform the functions of local Registrars in the event that any local registration service has to close due to COVID-19 restrictions."

This extension will ease pressure on civil registration offices and will ensure continuity of service. Registration of a child’s birth allows for Child Benefit to be paid and for the allocation of Medical Cards.

ENDS

Notes to the Editor:

The HSE operates the civil registration service at 61 locations across the country. The public offices of the service have been unable to open to the public, except by appointment to facilitate couples wishing to marry, to ensure adherence to public health guidance.

There have been no occasions where the HSE has sought the GRO to step in to provide services and all local offices have been able to provide a continuous service, but without public access.

Figures

Roughly, 60,000 births are registered annually in Ireland. The average number of monthly births is therefore about 5,000. The monthly average birth figure from 2019 is 5,030.

Parents tend to apply to register the birth of their child two weeks after a birth occurring. The average processing time for a birth to be registered, using the current process, is 20 calendar days from the date of birth.

Full details on registering a birth electronically are available here.