Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Last week, the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, published a shocking report that highlighted the need for greater protection for children under the Constitution. I noted the Taoiseach's earlier reply that he understands the majority of members of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children do not support the constitutional amendment route. This Deputy does. We need greater protection for children under the Constitution, in legislation and, most importantly because they are no use on their own, in practice through our care system.

The national children in care inspection report recommended the closure of the Ballydowd special care detention unit in Lucan and highlighted serious deficits in standards aimed at safeguarding vulnerable children, including lapses in vetting procedures for staff and foster carers working with children. That is a terrible indictment in 2009. We must all address this collectively, as we have been doing on the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children, where the phrases "children's rights committee" and "children's referendum committee" interchanged all the time because it was established with the specific brief from the Taoiseach's predecessor to examine improving the wording-----

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