Rónán Mullen (Independent)

——and even then we do not know why the High Court made its decision and neither do we know why the HSE did not appeal the decision.

I think I know a little bit about law and I can say this much. We have ample legislation in the child care Acts to provide that the State may intervene in cases of abuse and neglect and if it is the case that the courts are being tardy in this matter, it is open to us to bring forward legislation that gets into the detail of the circumstances where the courts might provide that children be taken into care. It should be remembered that since 2004, more than 400 care orders were granted and that number grew to 1,200 in 2007.

I have no problem with a constitutional amendment on children's rights if that is necessary, but I have a problem with posturing and people living in the 1980s and hauling down scapegoats from the past when what we should be doing is asking how we address the needs of children who may or may not be subject to the possibility of abuse and who may in any event be subject to the risk of abuse or neglect. There should be an end to the posturing——