Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate on an issue of significant concern. I compliment my party colleague, Deputy McConalogue, our spokesperson on children, on his initiative in bringing forward this important proposal which seeks to address the need for the State to provide for the adoption of children in the event of parental failure and where married couples are prepared to agree to the adoption of a child of their marriage. It is regrettable that of necessity we often find ourselves discussing and debating issues relating to the economy, finance and banking in this House but do not get more time to discuss very important social issues such as this. This is a genuine attempt to keep the focus on this matter and to keep it high on the agenda.

I most sincerely wish the newly appointed Minister well in her work. There is no need to be party political about this issue and any criticisms we make will be constructive, not political. The amendment to the Constitution will empower the Oireachtas to introduce legislation which will permit the adoption of children in long-term care, if it is in their best interests. We must focus on what is in the best interests of the child and nothing else, and we must park economic reasons and everything else in that context. The amendment will seek to affirm the right of all children to be adopted, regardless of the marital status of their parents. Most importantly, it does so without interfering with the primacy of the family under the Constitution.

Unfortunately, and it is a reflection on our society, there are more than 6,000 children in care in Ireland. A total of 5,500 of these are in foster care, and one third of them are in long-term foster care. In some cases, children are taken into care at birth and are raised by foster parents. They might only have sporadic contact with their parents. The possibility of adoption would represent a chance for a stable and secure family life, something every child deserves. We should take every opportunity to salute and acknowledge the work of foster families and the people involved in the delivery of foster care to these children. Many people are involved and often their work is unacknowledged. I know many of them in my constituency. All Members know such people in their constituencies given that they are constituency representatives as well as national parliamentarians. The work they do is truly tremendous.

This Bill has been brought forward because the Government parties have reneged on commitments they made, when they were in the Opposition, to proceed immediately with a referendum on children's rights. I ask the Government to take on board the initiative Deputy McConalogue has brought before the House. We should not divide along party lines, but support him.

In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge the sterling work of both the Office of the Ombudsman for Children and the Ombudsman for Children. As public representatives all of us have probably referred case work to that office and its work is carried out in a very professional manner. I should also mention the work of the many advocacy groups in this area, including the fine work of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ISPCC, and Barnardos Ireland. We should seek to maintain the level of State funding for these organisations so they can continue to carry out their fine work.

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