Fathers will have to be named on the birth certificates of all children, whether the father is married or not, under new Government proposals. At present only the names of married fathers are automatically registered.  

The proposed changes were announced in the Dail yesterday by the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton (pictured).  

Ms Burton said: “The Law Reform Commission, in its report Legal Aspects of Family Relationships, makes recommendations relating to the conduct of family relationships, including compulsory joint registration of the birth of a child where the parents are not married to each other. It is my intention to seek the approval of the Government later this year for the drafting of heads of a bill to amend the Civil Registration Act 2004 to include the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission as they apply to civil registration matters.”

Among the recommendations is that unmarried fathers be granted automatic guardianship status, that is, be recognised as legal parents of their children.

Currently only married fathers are automatically made guardians on the grounds that by virtue of being married they have demonstrated a certain level of commitment both to the mother and child.

Ms Burton told yesterday’s Daily Mail that she thought it was “highly desirable that both parents should contribute to the upkeep of their child.  

Eamonn Quinn, the national director of the Unmarried and Separated Parents of Ireland group, welcomed the move.

Mr Quinn told the Irish Daily Mail that the new law would help fathers who are cut off from their children against their will and “make them responsible”.

Figures show that around 4,000 children do not have the name of their father registered on their birth cert every year. And it has been estimated that overall, one in five of all children born to unmarried parents do not have the name of the father registered on their birth certificates.

The Law Reform Commission has speculated that one reason for the high numbers of unidentified fathers is because many single mothers wrongly believe that naming the father will affect their social welfare benefits.

Others believe that it will give the father automatic legal access rights to the child — which is also incorrect.

The commission found that,”In most cases the mother of the child is aware of who the father of the child is.”

Ms Burton will have to decide on exemptions in her legislation for mothers who do not know the identity of the father or who fears for her safety if the father of the child had to be contacted.

She said that the central issue was that “every child would have recognition and be able to access information as to their identity. It is the appropriate thing to do. I think it is important for children to have knowledge of both their parents”.

At present, unmarried mothers must get the written permission of the father of the child to put his name on the birth cert.

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the 4,166 children born in 2007 without their father’s name on the birth certificate accounted for around 6pc of the 70,620 children born that year.

In 2008 4,102 children did not have their father’s name on their birth cert — although 495 of these children had their father’s name added later in the year.

In Britain, legislation was introduced in 2009 which required mothers to name the father and threatened them with a £200 (€250) fine and seven days in prison for perjury if they gave a false answer. But so far, the law has not been enforced.