Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

The referendum was first promised seven years ago and was not delivered. The commitment of the Government is to have a stand-alone children's referendum. There has been a Government decision to that effect and it is intended to hold such a referendum this year. As for the precise timing, the Government clearly has a decision to take in respect of a number of referendums. It is in this context that the decision on the precise timing will be taken. As I have explained with regard to the HSE audit, there was a request from the HSE and the church for further time due to the volume of material that was returned in the course of the audit. I agreed to the request from both bodies that this audit be published in June. I gave them the additional time because I considered that to be the best thing to do in the interest of co-operation and of getting a quality report that was able to deal with all of the material and provide an up-to-date position. I understand the intention was for the previous Government to publish it in October 2010. As it was not published then, it is better to wait and have an up-to-date report, which will be available in June.

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