Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Bill. The matter of a referendum on children's rights has been on the cards for many years and I am delighted that the Government and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in particular have seized the opportunity to proceed with it. I am pleased by the fact that the referendum will be held on a Saturday and I hope this will increase voter turnout, especially among students. After all, this referendum relates to the younger generation. It is about giving them rights and hearing their voices. For too long in our State's history, the best interests of the child have been disregarded, denied and debased. I know that every Member of this House read with horror report after report documenting the seemingly endless abuse by the church and the State of children whose interests they were supposed to protect.

I wish to pay tribute to those souls who bravely came forward to tell their stories. I also want to acknowledge those who have passed away and who will never now have the opportunity to tell theirs. It is important, too, to pay tribute to those journalists who helped bring these stories to light. Mary Raftery was one such individual and I am happy that her memory is being honoured by a fund established in her name. I hope that the Mary Raftery journalism fund will be availed of by journalists intent on bringing the same kind of depth and clarity displayed by Ms Raftery when asking difficult questions of a society which did not want to answer them.

A comprehensive response is going to be required from this and future Governments in order to ensure that there will be no recurrence of what happened in the past. In this regard, the recommendations made by the statutory inquiries must be followed through upon to the nth degree. I fully support the legislative progress that has been made in this regard. As matters stand, the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information Concerning Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act is on the Statute Book and the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012, which will place the Children First national guidelines on a statutory footing, is making its way through the Dáil. While these are welcome legal instruments, the opportunity to put the interests of children at the very heart of our Constitution should not be missed. The proposed 31st amendment of the Constitution is that opportunity.

The proposed amendment seeks to do five things: first, it sets out that children have rights and that all children will be made equal; second, it allows the children to intervene in circumstances where children are deemed to be in danger; third, it will enable the children of married parents to be adopted if they have been abandoned for three years or more; fourth, it obliges any court to be guided by the best interests of children; and, fifth, it obliges courts to hear the views of children. Last year some 8,000 cases involving children came before the courts. In fewer than 2,000 of these cases did the children involved have representatives. The points I have raised are well made and important and they must form part of an overarching governance scheme that will meet the needs of children.

The Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2012 will give legislative effect to the wording of the constitutional amendment and will be enacted shortly thereafter. Having been adopted myself, this Bill is very close to my heart. I cannot imagine allowing a situation where parents who are unable to provide or to resume care for a child would still have rights over a child who had been fostered. This, in my view, is grossly unfair and untenable. I was fortunate to have a very loving and caring family who brought me up. My parents gave me the support and care I needed and I am very grateful that they were there for me. However, I know that thousands of others were not so fortunate. I want to see that potential realised for every child and I welcome the broad support for the referendum.

It is telling that the Opposition parties support the referendum because a united political front is essential in redressing the wrongs done to children in the past. This political support is welcome, as is the support of the civil society groups such as the Yes to Children umbrella group. However, as the Minister for Finance noted, I, too, would like the churches to come out in support of the proposal. Their silence on this issue is disturbing, in my view. As a Catholic and as a person who was adopted, I would like them to take the steps to demonstrate their support.

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