Alex White (Labour)

I move amendment No. 37:

In page 45, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following:

"(2) Regard shall be had to the views of the child, having regard to the child's age and understanding. Prior to taking steps under this section, the court shall give such directions as are appropriate where the Health Service Executive proposes to take steps to which the child does not consent.".

We had a debate on this on Committee Stage, as colleagues will be aware. I do not propose to rehearse all the arguments again in favour of this particular amendment that we have tabled. We have altered it slightly to take into account what the Minister of State said on Committee Stage in relation to the parents' view. The Minister of State had made the point on the last occasion that this was already satisfactorily dealt with elsewhere in the Bill. I understood that the Minister of State was inclined to accept some part of what we were proposing in relation to the view of the child. There was some discussion, perhaps, on an amendment tabled by Senator Cannon a few minutes ago. I apologise for missing that particular discussion and perhaps it anticipated this one, on my amendment. I am certainly moving it again. I believe the issue as regards the objective principle in relation to having regard to the views of the child is qualified by stating that having regard to the child's age and understanding would seem to be the basis for a very appropriate provision to be included in the new Act.

I understood the Minister of State to be in agreement with at least some part of the thrust of what we wanted to achieve. I shall be interested to hear what he has to say.