Changes in the format of the birth certificate to allow more recognition of mothers are provided for in the Registration of Births Bill, which was passed.
The Minister for Equality and Law Reform, Mr Taylor, said the format of the birth certificate reflected the social attitudes of the 1860s when it was designed. It recorded the father's address but ignored that of the mother. It also recorded the father's, but not the mother's, occupation, and asked for the mother's "maiden name".
The Bill was welcomed by Dr Michael Woods, Fianna Fail spokesman on law reform, who said he had doubts about including details of occupations in an era when people often had to change their occupations.
