Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The only way I can interpret the reply from the Taoiseach today is that it is new. The Taoiseach is now saying there is a range of issues, including financial and resource implications. There is a body of legislation that does not yet appear to have been worked out or considered. It appears the Bill is a long way from being agreed by the Government and published. Therefore, the only conclusion to be drawn, and it is new, is that the Government is today telling us, in effect, that there will not be a referendum on children's rights in the lifetime of the Dáil.

Given the Government's record in dealing with, prioritising and preparing legislation, it is clear the body of legislation described by the Taoiseach now will not be ready in time for a referendum on children's rights in the lifetime of the Dáil. There is a pretence that somehow the all-party committee comprised representatives of political parties who came to some kind of view before the issue went to the Government. Through a Minister, the Government was represented in an official capacity on the all-party committee and was part and parcel of it. What has happened over the past 15 or 20 minutes on the issue is not just that the goal posts have been changed; they have been taken down and off the pitch.

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