Finance Minister John O'Dowd has welcomed the Assembly's support for the Deaths, Still-Births and Baby Loss Bill, which today successfully passed the Final Stage of the legislative process.

Minister O'Dowd paid tribute to the tireless campaigners and the bravery of bereaved families, stating that the Bill aims to support people during "one of the most difficult and challenging times of their lives."

The Bill's most central provision is the establishment of a Baby Loss Certificate Scheme.

Minister O'Dowd stated: "It will give bereaved parents and families who have suffered the devastating loss of a baby in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, formal recognition and acknowledgement of their loss. The passing of the Bill today brings us closer to the introduction of this scheme with my intention being that it will be in place by the end of the financial year." Alliance Finance spokesperson Eóin Tennyson MLA hailed the legislation's passage as a "compassionate step forward for society," noting that the scheme will ensure parents who wish to have their loss formally recognised can finally do so.

Key Legislative Changes

In addition to the Baby Loss Certificate Scheme, the Bill addresses two other significant areas:

1. Permanent Remote Registration: It places the temporary powers introduced under the Coronavirus Act onto a permanent footing. These provisions, which enabled the remote registration of deaths and still-births and the electronic transfer of documents for the last five years, will now permanently ease the burden on grieving family members.

2. Equality in Registration: The Bill fixes disparities in current law by ensuring that unmarried, non-civil partnered couples—regardless of whether they are same-sex or heterosexual—have the same choices about how to jointly register a birth or a still-birth.

Minister O'Dowd concluded that by addressing these three important issues, the Assembly has delivered changes that will make a "real, lasting and positive difference for our constituents."