THE Government will introduce legislation to validate at least 79 marriages which are illegal because they do not comply with the Family Law Act.

The Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, said yesterday that 79 out of 154 marriages referred to the Registrar General do not comply with legal requirements and the legality of a further 28 marriages is being investigated.

Mr Noonan said he very much regretted the inconvenience caused to the affected couples and added that "every effort is being made to find an early and satisfactory resolution". Amending legislation would be introduced "as soon as possible", the Minister said.

Difficulties about the validity of marriages have arisen because of the enactment of divorce legislation. Mr Noonan, in a written reply to a Dail question from Mr Ivor Callely (FF, Dublin North Central), said the problem developed primarily because the persons concerned failed "to give three months written notification of their intention to the appropriate registrar of marriages".

"In the majority of these cases written notification was given to the wrong registrar. In a number of cases there is no record of any notification having been given to a registrar and in some cases it was established that the couple had given the necessary written notification directly to the appropriate registrar less than the required three months, before the date of the marriage.

Mr Noonan added that "the Government has decided to introduce amending legislation to cater for difficulties which have arisen in circumstances where the three months written notification was given to a registrar other than the appropriate registrar."