Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Has the Government considered this at all yet? The report was published in February. When a referendum is being considered, there are normally just a couple of opportunities in the year for it to be held. One of those is the beginning of June, which is what I expected. I got the Dáil schedule from the Whips office earlier in the year and noticed there was a week at the beginning of June when there were to be no Dáil sittings. I assumed and said to myself that would be the week we would have the children's rights referendum. That would be the logical time to have it. What is the Government's plan for having it or what is the position? The political belief is that the Taoiseach is pulling back from holding a referendum on children's rights because he is afraid he will have to have the three by-elections on the same day, but the last thing he wants is an election of any sort. It seems to me the Taoiseach is sacrificing the right of children here to have their rights written into the Constitution and refusing to have this referendum, which was agreed on an all-party basis, in order to save his political skin.

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