Dáil debates

Wednesday, 31 January 2007

5:00 am

Photo of Enda KennyEnda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

When will we have a full debate on the Moriarty tribunal, which was clear and has many implications? The Taoiseach is mentioned in it himself.

In November, the Government proposed that the Minister of State with special responsibility for children would initiate discussions with Opposition parties about the possibility of a referendum on children's rights. As the Taoiseach knows, there is no political difficulty in so far as the zone of absolute defence is concerned, but our spokesman on justice, Deputy Jim O'Keeffe, was only contacted by the Minister of State about other proposals in this regard yesterday. The Minister of State indicated that he wishes to bring the matter to the Cabinet next Tuesday, which is a short space of time in which to deal with a matter of such constitutional significance.

Is it the Taoiseach's intention to hold a referendum on absolute defence as a single entity or as an amalgamation of the other proposals, which have not been discussed yet? If so, when is that likely to happen? Will the committee's recommendation to reduce the age of consent for sexual relations to 16 years be part of the referendum?

Will we have an opportunity to debate the Harris report in respect of the declining quality of spoken Irish in primary schools? I have mentioned the matter half a dozen times.

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