Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to contribute to the debate on this Bill, which is hugely important to many people throughout the country. Amending the Constitution is a serious matter which always requires serious debate. This has never been more true than in the case of the proposed thirty-first amendment to the Constitution. The aim of the amendment is clear, namely, to enshrine children's rights in the Constitution - a document which dictates how our Government operates and that for which our country stands - for the first time. This amendment was not drawn up overnight, it is the result of five years of formal deliberation and almost 12 years of public and private debate.

I compliment the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, on arriving at a wording that is acceptable to everybody in the House. Earlier this evening I listened with interest to the contributions of Opposition Members who also praised the Minister. It is a welcome, if not unique, development that we are discussing children in this House and that there is agreement on the matter. I again compliment the Minister in that regard. I also compliment those opposite on being fair and open. What is happening here bodes well for the Houses of the Oireachtas for the future and we must seek to learn from it.

Ireland has been obliged to learn the importance of children's rights the hard way. Members do not need to be reminded of that fact. Since 1993 there have seen 17 reports in which the failures of our child protection system have been outlined in detail. Arguably, one of the most shocking reports relates to the Roscommon child care case. This report laid much of the blame at the feet of the State. It also detailed how it took the relevant health board eight years to react appropriately to horrific levels of child abuse. We watched in amazement as the details relating to that case emerged.

While most of us in this Chamber are in broad agreement on the need for the rights of children to be enshrined in our Constitution, some outside do not see matters in that way. Some opponents say that the forthcoming referendum is not necessary and that legislation alone would be sufficient. I disagree. While it was never the intention of those who framed it, the Constitution, as it currently stands, is vague on this issue. The Constitution can often be manipulated and interpreted as a document which places greater value on the rights of parents than on those of children. In some cases, this has allowed abuse to continue even when that should not have been the case. There are too many examples of instances when the State could have intervened but did not do so simply because it felt vulnerable from a legal standpoint. I contend that this will no longer be the case.

The thirty-first amendment to the Constitution will put the rights of the child front and centre in our legal system. It will give children, having regard for their young age and potential vulnerability, special protection by virtue of formally recognising their importance within our Constitution. The amendment will also remove obstacles for married parents to the voluntary placement of children for adoption. In the absence of this change some children would remain in short-term care for the entire duration of their childhoods, without the possibility of being party to the security that adoption brings. The amendment will also end the current practice of treating children differently on foot of their parents' marital status. It will ensure that the rights of the family, as set out in Article 41 of the Constitution, will be respected and preserved in exactly the way they were meant to be. It must be remembered that our Constitution expresses our priorities as a country, shapes all of our discussions in this House and provides certainty as to that for which we stand.

I wish to conclude by recognising the work already done by the many families throughout the country that have devoted their lives to children in need. I refer to those who have taken in children and helped them through difficult periods in their own lives.

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