Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. As Deputy Keaveney stated, this was a promise in the Labour Party manifesto and it was also in the programme for Government. Therefore, I am delighted that we are holding a referendum on this issue on 10 November. I am delighted because the children's referendum has been a long time coming. A total of 17 different reports since 1993 have outlined the State's failings in child protection since its foundation. Each of those reports described in horrific detail the ordeals that children had to go through because of either family or State neglect and I think we all agree that these situations cannot be allowed to continue. The sad reality is that all public representatives have come into contact with persons whom the State has let down. It is incredibly difficult to listen to their individual stories knowing that we all were part of a society which allowed this to happen. Voting "Yes" to this amendment on 10 November will give children who are being neglected or abused a much better chance at getting the protection they need when they need it.

The wording of the amendment has been carefully put together. There were 64 different meetings of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children. Over the past year the Minister and her staff have been working closely with the Office of the Attorney General to ensure the amendment does not take away from any other right that is currently in the Constitution. This is an important point to make and one that we will need to continue making over the next seven weeks.

This referendum is about reaffirming the Irish people's commitment to the protection of children. As the Minister pointed out yesterday, the amendment once again confirms the status of the family as the best place to raise a child. It is not that the State knows more than the family about how to raise a child. There is a concern out there that some groups may use the status of the family as a way to campaign negatively against this referendum. I hope this is not the case, and that we are facing into a referendum campaign that will be positive. I would hate to see some sectors in society use this campaign to promote their own narrow social agendas. Let us take the opportunity to say to each child who is growing up in this country that he or she is important and the State will provide for him or her when others cannot.

My party is planning a positive campaign. We have appointed the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to lead this campaign as our national director of elections. She met with her campaign team yesterday and they are planning a wide range of activities such as putting up posters and distributing leaflets across the country, and also going out to knock on doors and ask members of the public to vote "Yes". Our membership will be right behind us. I myself was out knocking on doors in Kells last weekend and I spoke to several hundred people. The key message for me was that people know the referendum is being held and welcome it, but my worry is that they said almost universally that it would sail through. This will not sail through unless we convince people to go out and vote for it. That will be the key message for me and for my team over the next few weeks, and one that the Government must bear in mind. We need people to go out and vote "Yes" for this. Sitting at home will not pass the amendment.

I congratulate the Minister and her staff for constructing a form of wording that has been welcomed by the vast majority of child protection groups out there and by others in society, and I wish her all the best in this referendum campaign.

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