Concern raised over delay in birth registrations
Council call on Minister to expedite bonus pay for nurses
Parents are facing a wait of eight to nine weeks to register the birth of their child, says Sinn Féin’s Paddy McDonald, leading to delays in families attaining PPS numbers, medical cards, passports and accessing Child Benefit payments.
The concern was raised at the June monthly meeting of Cavan County Council, when Cllr McDonald said he had been contacted by many parents forced to wait as long as two months to receive paperwork.
“When a baby is born, one of the parents fills out a form in the hospital, which is sent to the Cavan Birth Registration Office. However, for some reason, it is then taking eight or nine weeks for the birth to be put on the system,” said Cllr McDonald.
He explained: “The parent needs a birth certificate in order to get a PPS number, to get a medical card or a passport and to be able to claim Child Benefit, which is vitally important as many parents depend on this income to buy what is necessary for their child.”
Asking Cavan County Council to write to the HSE and establish “where the problem lies”, Cllr McDonald called for measures to be introduced to “update the system” so that parents are waiting no longer than two to three weeks to be able to register the birth of their child.
His motion was seconded by Independent Shane P. O’Reilly.
Separately, Fine Gael’s T.P. O’Reilly called on the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, to expidite the bonus payments for nurses and health care workers promised to them for the effort put in during the pandemic.
Thousands of frontline healthcare workers are still waiting for their €1,000 COVID-19 bonus, and Cllr O’Reilly’s motion was all the more poignant as it came in the same week as elected members hosted a civic reception for nursing staff to commemorate Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s centenary in 2019.
“It’s not fair on them,” said Cllr O’Reilly. “So many still haven’t received [the payment].”
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