Seán Conlan (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to be a member of a Government which is actively pursuing a suite of legislation aimed at addressing an issue which has been at the forefront of moral, social, religious and political discourse in this country since the child abuse issue broke the surface of the idyllic society of our parents and forced us as a people to confront the demons embedded within and to accept that all is not well when a modern democracy fails to afford constitutional protection, so cherished by our citizens, to almost 20% of our population. It reflects badly on us when those denied protection are the most innocent and vulnerable among us and are wholly incapable of protecting themselves. I am speaking of our most treasured asset, our future, those who will carry the mantle of this nation in the future .

The suite of legislation undertaken by this Government, the enactment of which is being expedited by our specifically designated Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Francis Fitzgerald, is aimed at addressing the protection of children in a real and meaningful way. The jewel in the crown of the process is the introduction of the Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012, which will amend the Constitution and insert a new article, Article 42A, which will have the effect of enshrining the protection of children and expressly recognising them in their own right within the Constitution.

In passing this Bill we are galvanizing the protection of children and ensuring the right of every child to be afforded constitutional protection in their own right. In doing so, we are displaying a maturity and establishing ourselves as a nation where every citizen is truly cherished equally and entitled to enjoy all the rights conferred on us by our Constitution. We are truly implementing change. We are no longer paying lip service to the abhorrent revelations that came dripping slowly from a hidden Ireland, where abusers and predators were at best ignored and at worst, protected. I am not referring to any particular sector of society in saying this, as child abuse spans every socioeconomic, cultural, religious and political boundary and is to be found anywhere the light fails to shine.

As a Government we are succeeding where others have failed. We are ceasing the practice of displaying shock and horror, practised by previous Administrations, at the horror stories and cases bursting on to the media, only to be forgotten about when the next big issue arose. The Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, elevated the children's portfolio to a Front Bench position as far back as 2007 and was the first to give recognition to the important position children should be afforded in Government. He followed through on this important process by creating a new Cabinet position of Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, which has been eminently filled by my party colleague, Deputy Francis Fitzgerald, who deserves great credit for tackling this gaping absence in our legislation and Constitution, whereby children and the most vulnerable among us were denied the protection available to other citizens.

The need for this protection has been highlighted by successive reports including the Kilkenny incest case and subsequent investigations, the Constitutional Review Group report of 1996, the All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution report of 2006, the Roscommon incest and rape case and the subsequent report of 2010, the report of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children in 2010, as well as various clerical abuse tribunals. Almost 20 years have passed, when we had money for everything, without this gaping hole in our society being addressed. It was not as if there were few incidences of abuse. Last year alone, of the 30,000 child protection and welfare concerns reported, 1,500 were confirmed cases of sexual, physical or emotional abuse and that does not include the vastly more numerous welfare issues.

The Taoiseach, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and this Government do this nation a great service and deserve the support of this House in forging ahead with these various instruments of legislation, which will finally afford protection to our children who hold the hopes and aspirations of a struggling but proud nation in the palms of their hands.

See this speech in context