Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to follow on from the final point made by Deputy Fleming, that there should be a good turnout on 10 November to show the priorities of the people and that they are fully supportive of what we propose.

I compliment the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, on the great work she has done in a short space of time to bring all of the elements of the legislation and the provisions for the referendum together. It is something on which others have toiled and striven over a considerable period. At this stage it is approximately 30 years since the first efforts were made to bring about the introduction of a provision relating to children’s rights and their protection under the Constitution. The Minister has managed to bring the provisions before us in rapid time -18 months - and a target date for the referendum to take place in the month of November. That is exemplary.

I also compliment the Minister on the good work she has done on adoption. Last Monday she signed an agreement with Vietnam to reopen and restart adoptions between the two countries. That is a tremendous achievement considering the amount of effort that was made in the past without any result being achieved. I compliment the Minister strongly on the active role she has taken since becoming Minister in delivering the commitment in the programme for Government, which was often promised in the past but was not delivered.

It is incredible that almost 100 years have elapsed since an emerging nation promised to "cherish the children of the nation equally". That is one of the most quoted parts of the 1916 Proclamation, yet only now are we giving recognition and protection to children in the Constitution. In the intervening period, child abuse was widespread in society, as various reports reveal, together with the testimonies of more than 13,000 children, now adults, who came before the Residential Institutions Redress Board. They reveal accounts of abuse - physical, sexual, emotional and mental in the various institutions that were in the control of the State, and others that were not in the State's control but should have been. That is one of the great failures of more than 90 years of Irish statehood and independence, which has totally undermined the commitment in the Proclamation.

As far back as 1979, when I was chairman of the Prisoners' Rights Organisation, an inquiry was established into the prison system chaired by Sean MacBride, SC, and Professor Louk Hulsman. The current President, Michael D. Higgins, and the previous President, Mary McAleese, were both members of the organisation. At the time we conducted a survey of 200 ex-prisoners living in Dublin for the public inquiry. We discovered that more than 80% of the survey cohort had spent much of their childhood in reformatories or industrial schools. The existing legislation often committed them to many years in industrial schools and they were often forgotten in those institutions. The ex-prisoners were damaged by the system in which they had spent their youth and they were further damaged subsequently and their adult lives ruined.

For the first time, the Bill and referendum give Irish children full rights as citizens in their own right in the Constitution. That is crucially important, that they are getting those rights by virtue of their own right as citizens not by proxy through anyone else. There is something incongruous, almost perverse, that in conducting a public debate over the next six weeks 50% of the time will be given to the small minority in the country who may argue against the proposed assertion of children's rights in the Constitution, as outlined in the referendum proposals. The media, and in particular RTE, should explore every mechanism for a balanced and fair debate within the constraints of the Supreme Court judgment so as to avoid creating a false polarisation dictated by a crude allocation of time on the basis of virtual opposition.

I welcome the fact that the long-awaited children's referendum is finally to be put to the Irish people. Too many years have passed since it was first suggested, and too often this issue has been put off for another day. The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, is to be congratulated on publishing the text of the proposed amendment to the Constitution and for ensuring that the proposed amendment has such broad support. It is important that we include in the Constitution a stand-alone article dedicated to children and we acknowledge that children's rights are not subordinated to the rights of parents but are recognised as being fundamental in themselves. The Supreme Court judge, Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness noted almost 20 years ago that the Constitution may be "interpreted as giving a higher value to the rights of parents, than to the rights of children". Since that time, successive Governments have examined the issue, but until now no action has been taken. While these matters were being examined, for example in the Roscommon incest case, the State was prevented from acting to defend abused and neglected children. The parents of those poor children brought a successful High Court challenge to prevent child protection services from acting, and the children continued to suffer. An anomaly exists in terms of the current interpretation of the constitutional provisions. That is something which must be eliminated.

For most children, the best place to be is with their families and the proposed amendment does not alter the assumption in law that this is the case. However, for a small number of children it is not always the case. The proposed amendment provides for when and how intervention by the State should occur. It will ensure that in exceptional cases where, due to parental failure, the safety and welfare of any child is at risk, the focus will be on addressing the impact of that failure on the child. For these children, this referendum will ensure that the State can provide early intervention and family support to protect them in their home, by providing constitutional recognition to the concept of "proportionate" responses to child protection concerns. Where such efforts are not successful the State can ultimately go further in ensuring the child's protection and, if required, make alternative arrangements.

The proposed rights and protections incorporated in the amendment are for the benefit of all children, irrespective of the marital status of their parents. The aim is that children of married and non-married parents will be treated equally when it comes to protecting their safety or welfare, their access to adoption and the consideration of their best interests and views in key proceedings. All these factors will be taken into consideration. In particular, the amendment provides for the making of legislation to allow for adoption where it is in the best interests of a child who is in foster care because of the serious and persistent failure of his or her parents, irrespective of the marital status of the parents. It also facilitates the making of legislation to allow for the voluntary placement of a child for adoption. The aim of these changes is to give children in foster care a better opportunity to experience the security of a loving, caring family.

I welcome that the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, has also published the draft Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2012 which the Government plans to bring before the Oireachtas on the passing of this referendum. The proposed amendment also requires that the best interests of the child should be the paramount consideration and that the voice of the child be given due weight in court proceedings taken by the State relating to child protection and in matters relating to adoption, guardianship, custody and access. It should be the case wherever possible that the voice of the child should be heard.

By voting "Yes" on 10 November, the Irish people will remove inequalities in adoption and will help ensure that vulnerable children are not denied the help and support they may require. This child-centred approach is present in both the legislation and the referendum proposals. Last year, approximately 1,500 children were identified as having been abused, sexually, physically or emotionally, and 30,000 children were dealt with in terms of protection and welfare. That is a very sizeable proportion of the children in the country. It is very important that we get the basic framework document right, namely, the determining body of rights in the Constitution. Up to the present we have denied the children of this country; on 10 November we propose to address this. I wish to ensure this outcome comes about with the highest possible percentage of the people voting "Yes". The obligation is on Members to ensure that all sides of this House in favour of this legislation - as all are - get good campaigns going on the ground to ensure that is the case.

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