Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

I am a proud Member of Seanad Éireann today. In the middle of the difficult economic times in which we find ourselves, it is right and proper that Senators from all sides of the House would highlight the issue of child care in the manner they are doing. It is a much more important issue than the economy and is fundamental to the bedrock of our society.

I commend Senator O'Donovan on his remarks on the necessity to hold the children's rights referendum. I call on the Minister to set a date today for the holding of this urgent referendum, although we do not need to hold it tomorrow or to do so in haste. Consensus can be found on this issue. While we have used the word "consensus" a lot recently, I believe there is broad consensus on this issue. We have had years of appalling failures in respect of child care. We are no longer prepared to accept dereliction of duty.

I take issue with the comment that had the referendum been passed, it would not have impacted on this case. The key issue in the referendum is that the voice of the child be heard. My understanding of this report is that had the voices of the children been heard to the extent they should have been, this abuse may not have occurred. While I accept there was a dereliction of duty, we need proper checks and balances, and these are not currently in place. I believe that when, not if, we have this referendum debate, we will have in place better child care structures because they will be underpinned by legislation attaching to this referendum. We need to have this debate. I call on the Minister to set a date today for holding the referendum.