Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 1 Jun 2011

Vol. 208 No. 2

Constitutional Amendment on Children

Senator Terry Leyden

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Shane McEntee. From my experience of being in Departments and taking many Adjournment debates I appreciate that the new Minister for Children may have difficulty in being in the House tonight, but I hope she will have an opportunity to outline the situation to the House in greater detail in the near future.

I raise the issue of the need for the Minister for Children to outline the progress regarding the Government's proposed wording for a referendum on the constitutional protection of children and her views on the amendment to strengthen children's rights as outlined in the final report of February 2010 of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children. The committee was chaired by former Deputy Mary O'Rourke. Current members of the Cabinet also participated in the committee, the Vice Chairman being Deputy Michael Noonan, the Minister for Finance. Other members included Senator Thomas Byrne; former Deputies Margaret Conlon, Olwyn Enright and Paul Gogarty; Deputies Brendan Howlin and Dan Neville; former Deputy Tom Kitt; Deputies Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, and Alan Shatter, now a Minister, former Deputy Michael Woods, former Senator, now Deputy Alex White; former Senator and now Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald. I am much encouraged because Deputy Fitzgerald is very familiar with the work of the committee. Other members included former Senator Geraldine Feeney and former Senator Maria Corrigan. The former Minister and Deputy, Mr. Dermot Ahern was an ex officio member of the committee. The former Deputy and Minister of State, Mr. Barry Andrews, was also involved. I note the number of Deputies and Senators who are no longer Members of the Oireachtas. It could be a sign that they devoted a great deal of their time to this committee and its work for which they are to be commended. The 2010 report of the Ombudsman for Children, Ms Logan, was published this morning. She is very anxious that this amendment be made to the Constitution.

I am the Fianna Fáil Seanad spokesperson on children and European affairs. Will the Minister of State convey to the Minister for Children the unanimous support to hold this referendum sooner rather than later and ask him to consider holding it in conjunction with the presidential election in November? This is a very important amendment to the Constitution. We owe it to children and future children to include this amendment in the Constitution. Very detailed research has been undertaken and it is an all-party agreed report which was submitted to the Oireachtas. The Minister is currently discussing the wording with the Attorney General. Different views were expressed on the wording of the amendment. Will the Minister publish the wording as soon as possible for consideration? We certainly did not live up to the 1916 Proclamation to cherish all the children of the nation equally. They were neglected in the institutions and the reports prove this. We all indirectly share in the neglect of children in the past. I hope the constitutional amendment will go a long way towards ensuring the mistakes of the past are rectified.

Deputy Shane McEntee

I note the co-operation of all parties on this matter. I am taking this Adjournment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald. I am pleased to provide the Seanad with an update on the work of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children and the Government position on the referendum on children's rights.

I emphasise the Government's commitment to the amendment of the Constitution to strengthen its protection of the rights of children. This Government will ensure that our young people are given the full protection of the Constitution. The programme for Government reaffirms the Government's intention to hold a referendum to amend the Constitution to ensure that children's rights are strengthened along the lines recommended by the all-party Oireachtas committee.

In general, the Constitution strikes a balance between personal rights, the status of the family, the rights and duties of parents and the power of the State as guardian of the common good. The aim of the Government is to expressly include children in this equation. The road to constitutional reform is protracted and cautious by nature. This is appropriate, given the need to ensure the Constitution, the cornerstone and basic law of the State, reflects the needs, culture and ethos of the people. The call for constitutional change to protect children has been championed by Ms Catherine McGuinness in her report on the Kilkenny incest investigation and by the Constitution Review Group in its 1996 report.

Our society is governed by the Constitution. It is Government's position that the rights of children have to be balanced with other important principles already contained in the Constitution and which are important in protecting and safeguarding children from harm. This Government is committed to ensuring that there is no dilution of the equally important concepts of the duties of parents and the core position in society of the family unit. Any amendment developed will respect the constitutional position of the family based on marriage as the fundamental unit of our society.

The Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children considered wording for an amendment to the Constitution and produced two interim reports which recommended legislative responses to the issues referred to in the proposed amendment. The final report of the joint committee, published in February, deals with the rights of children under the Constitution and the statute and case law concerning adoption, guardianship, care proceedings, custody and access to children. The committee's draft proposed wording and the full version of the report may be downloaded from the Oireachtas website, www.oireachtas.ie.

The then Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs, Mr. Barry Andrews, presented a copy of the third and final report of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children to the Cabinet in early March. This was considered by the different Departments and the Attorney General, to determine the implications for the Government and for their individual responsibilities. A draft wording was developed at that time but it did not adequately reflect the good work done by the all-party Oireachtas committee.

The programme for Government 2011 states that the referendum on children's rights is a priority and that the wording will be along the lines of that proposed by the all-party Oireachtas committee. Since taking office, the Minister for Children has commenced discussions with the Attorney General with a view to preparing a draft wording which will more closely reflect the work of the committee than that which the previous Government approved in draft form. Following these deliberations, the Minister for Children intends to bring the matter to Government for approval to draft a Bill and to hold a referendum.

Last week, the Taoiseach stated the referendum would not take place on the same day as the Presidential election. There is concern that to hold it then may unnecessarily and unhelpfully politicise children's rights. It is considered that a separate referendum is more appropriate for this important and sensitive issue.

Senator Terry Leyden

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter. I also thank the Minister of State for delivering this very detailed response, the Minister and the officials. I can see the point made about the date for the referendum.