Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to reaffirm what I said already. As my colleague has said, this is about listening to the views of the child. When dealing with child care issues, professionals should always be concerned about listening to the child's views when making decisions that will affect the children directly. I acknowledge the Minister's amendment has broadened the scope of the original provisions, but not to the extent my amendment would. Setting out clearly that the legislation applies whether an issue is before a court or not provides a broader approach. This is important.

As I said initially, we are committed to Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This amendment gives clear expression to those rights. In light of the fact the Minister has introduced an amendment that partially meets what Deputy Ó Caoláin and I have proposed, I hope she will give our amendments further consideration.