Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 13, to delete lines 28 to 30 and substitute the following:“9. (1) The Agency shall, in performing its functions under section 8(1)(a), (b) or (c) in respect of an individual child or family, regard the best interests of the child as a primary consideration.”.

This amendment seeks to delete lines 28 to 30 and to substitute them with a new section 9(1). This is concerned with the views and best interests of the child. The legislation states: "The Agency shall, when making decisions in relation to the performance of its functions under section 8(1)(a), (b) or (c), have regard to the best interests of the child in all matters." I believe the term "have regard to" is too weak. This section also fails to properly affirm the standards that have been set internationally in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is not enough to reference section 9(2) when talking about paramount consideration. I will come to that later because amendment No. 11 refers to it.

We should be very clear in section 9(1) and should not accept standards that fall short of the UN convention's construction. This provision is a weaker position. We need to affirm in section 9(1) that the best interests of the child shall be a "primary consideration". I argue this strongly because I believe section 9(1) should read: "The Agency shall, in performing its functions under section 8(1)(a), (b) or (c) in respect of an individual child or family, regard the best interests of the child as a primary consideration.”. No other standard is acceptable. The provision in the Bill as it stands is: "have regard to the best interests of the child in all matters". The term "have regard to" is similar to "take into account" and does not place the provision in any particular hierarchy of responsibility. It is important we make it abundantly clear that consideration of the child's interests must be seen as a primary consideration.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states: "In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration." The amendment I have submitted seeks to strengthen section 9(1) by adopting the UN convention standard, which I believe we should adopt. The use of the terms "primary consideration" in section 9(1) and "paramount consideration" in section 9(2) are not self exclusive and are not in combat with each other.

I hope the Minister has given further consideration to this section and that she accepts that the substitution I wish to make in the Bill makes it abundantly clear that the best interests of the child, being the most important consideration, must be the primary consideration. Accordingly, I commend the amendment to her.

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