Sean Barrett (Independent)

I welcome the Minister. I was delighted by her appointment and I agree with Senator Quinn's sentiments that there is more expertise in this area in the Fitzgerald household than anywhere else in the world. Should the child and family support agency have linkages to school attendance officers, public health nurses and juvenile liaison officers when it is configured?

The slapping issue was raised by Senator Leyden. The Minister stated that 29% of women and 26% of men have suffered from some form of domestic abuse at some stage. People such as the former Senator Sheehy-Skeffington and the former Minister, John Boland, banned slapping of children by teachers. The idea that we should not intervene against violence because it is domestic is inappropriate. We should be against violence everywhere. In view of the Taoiseach's statement on redefining our relationship with religion in this country, has the doctrine of original sin been over-emphasised? Children are not born evil and need not have anything beaten out of them either by teachers or parents.

I refer to the successful programmes of safety on the roads. How does the surgeon feel when someone is brought in and they are patched up and glasses are put on them so that people will be unaware that they have been given a black eye by their spouse? We must make it clear that violence is unacceptable politically, on the streets, in sports and certainly in households. How do we move to get this message across?

Should the referendum on children not include voting rights at 16 years of age as recommended by the National Youth Council of Ireland? People of this age take courses in civics and they would make excellent members of the national electorate. Perhaps there could be a supplementary question on extending voting rights in the referendum.