Minister to bring memo to Cabinet on death registrations 

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys wanted to cut the time for registering deaths to two working weeks, admitting the time lag is contrary to 'a range of international comparator countries'. Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

A memo will be brought to the Cabinet shortly on how deaths should be registered in Ireland.

At present, deaths can be registered in Ireland up to three months after they take place.

However, under the Civil Registration Act 2004, there is no legal consequence for the failure to register a death within that time frame, as highlighted by the document for the public consultation process, published by the Department of Social Protection when it launched its consultation process two years ago.

The document noted only four out of five deaths were registered within the three-month window.

According to a department spokeswoman, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys will “bring a memo to Government shortly which will set out the next steps”.

Ms Humphreys’ department wanted to cut the time window to two working weeks, admitting the time lag is contrary to “a range of international comparator countries”.

In England and Wales, deaths must be registered within five days, and in Scotland, within eight days. In France, Greece, Luxembourg, Italy, and Spain, deaths must be registered within 24 hours.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Social Protection said the General Register Office had compiled figures for monthly deaths based on registrations completed in October to December 2022.

According to the figures, 2,627 deaths have been registered for October, 2,589 for November, and 3,144 for December.

But the spokeswoman stressed: “These figures do not represent the total number of deaths which have actually occurred and are liable to change as more deaths continue to be registered throughout 2023. Figures are correct as of 18th April 2023.” 

Since the advent of covid-19 in early 2020, the Central Statistics Office has used Rip.ie to garner “timely estimates on mortality”. In a statistical release published in April 2021, the CSO stated: “The notices are placed close to 'real time', the average length of time between date of death and publication is about 1.1 days. 

"When compared with the statutory time limit of three months for the registrations of deaths in the State, this is a timelier data source for monitoring trends in mortality.” 

Limerick Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea, who has previously spoken out about the need to get accurate death figures in a timely manner, told the Irish Examiner he welcomed the imminent presentation of proposals to Cabinet by the minister.