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Complaints against the General Register Office

Introduction

It is a legal requirement in Ireland that a record is kept of each birth, marriage and death that occurs in the State. It is evident therefore, that the civil registration process impacts directly on all citizens of the State throughout their lives - from the point where an individual's birth is registered to the registration of his/her death. In between, registration is an essential requirement for persons who wish to marry or re-marry. During our lives we are regularly required to invoke the services of the registration process to provide certificates in relation to issues which affect the way in which we organise our lives - education, social welfare, health, employment and even holidays.

The General Register Office (GRO) is responsible for the administration of the civil registration service in Ireland. It is an Executive Unit of the Department of Health and Children and operates under the aegis of the Department with funding provided for in the Department's annual budget. The day-to-day registration service is primarily delivered by the Superintendent and District Registrars who are officials of the Health Service Executive (HSE). The present system for civil registration is over 150 years old and, in that time, there have been many changes in our society and this has been coupled with increased expectations by its citizens about how public services should be delivered. However, until recent times there had been little change in the basic registration procedures. The registration system had been largely paper-based, and the Department of Health and Children had acknowledged that registration methodology, which was overwhelmingly manual in nature, was inefficient and cumbersome and caused difficulties in the provision for clients of the highest standards of quality customer service.

In the context of the implementation of government policy aimed at improving the functioning of the civil and public service, a programme for Civil Registration Modernisation, a joint project by the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Social and Family Affairs, was launched in October 2003. The programme is being introduced on a phased basis and involves legislative reform, design and development of new processes and procedures and the introduction of modern technology. The objective is to deliver of a modernised service which meets the needs of 21st century Ireland.

As Ombudsman, I enthusiastically welcome the Civil Registration Modernisation programme and look forward to the establishment of a service which will, hopefully, meet the citizen's needs and expectations. While I acknowledge that the vast majority of interactions between the citizen and the registration service are completed in an efficient and satisfactory manner, my experience in dealing with complaints from the public relating to the GRO has convinced me that the administration of the present system can, in certain circumstances, lead to individuals being harshly and insensitively treated.

I have chosen, in this report, to highlight a number of these cases where I feel that the actions of the GRO have adversely and seriously affected individuals. While these cases exemplify instances where the quality of service provided was below the standard which might be expected from a public service organisation, it is not my intention to use the report solely to as a means of articulating criticisms of the GRO. It is my hope rather, that these cases will give insight to those who are concerned with the quality customer service improvement process, both within the GRO and the Department, and assistance in meeting the expectations of members of the public using this important service in the future.

In the interests of fairness and balance I have made a copy of the draft report available to the GRO to enable it to have an opportunity to comment on its contents. The response of the GRO to the report is published in full at Appendix 1

Emily O'Reilly

Ombudsman

October 2007

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