Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The Twenty-eight Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2007 has been referred to the children's rights committee for consideration. Is the Government still committed to a referendum on children's rights? Is the Taoiseach aware that when making his new appointments, he has removed from the committee two Government Ministers of State who were intimately involved in it, namely Deputies Conor Lenihan and Brendan Smith? Yesterday he effectively removed Deputy Peter Power from the committee, by appointing him as Minister of State.

I suggest that the Taoiseach does not regard the work of this committee as serious. Discussions and hearings that have taken place in which all three Deputies have been involved have been rendered irrelevant. New Ministers of State and a new Member will have to be appointed to the committee, even though they have played no part in this committee. To what extent does the Taoiseach regard this committee as relevant? Does he intend there to be a children's rights amendment to the Constitution? What progress does he expect the committee to make in circumstances in which three of the leading members from his party have been removed from it?

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