Statutory Requirement to Register Father’s Details on Birth Certificate

Karen Tobin, Family Law Partner, CKT examines the recent amendment to legislation which sets out the obligations to register a child’s birth in Ireland.

As and from December 2025, if a child is born to parents who are not married to each other at the time of the child’s birth or at any time during the period of ten months before that date, details of the child’s father will now be required when registering the birth of the child, pursuant to Section 6 of the Civil Registration Act 2014.

Prior to this legislation, there was no requirement for an unmarried mother to provide the father’s name or contact details.

The legislation now requires the mother to provide contact details for the father. The registration services will write to the father advising them of the steps that they should take if they wish to have their details entered as the child’s father on the birth certificate.

If the child’s father does not accept paternity or does not reply within 28 days, the child’s birth will be registered without the details of the father, however, these details can be registered in the future.

If a mother has a compelling reason not to name the father, then she must provide a statutory declaration as to why she believes it would not be in the child’s best interests or safety to provide those details.

If the mother does not know where the father is or where he is living, a declaration will be required to this effect.

Under the current legislation, the birth of a child will need to be registered within a period three months from the date of birth.  Births can be registered online through the Civil Registration Services or in person.