Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On a more constructive note, I welcome the announcement of the referendum on children's rights. I particularly welcome the fact that the referendum will be held on 10 November, a Saturday. This is the first occasion in a long period on which a referendum will be held on a Saturday. This should enable greater participation by young people and students in particular. I also welcome the announcement that Fianna Fáil will be supporting the referendum. That is good to hear. What is proposed will be of immense practical significance for the many hundreds of children who are in care and cannot be adopted by their foster parents as a result of the existing wording in the Constitution. As a result, the referendum is going to make an immense difference to the lives of children in a very clear, practical and concrete way. There will also be significant improvements to the child protection system. Had such improvements been made previously, judges would have been able to apply very different criteria in the Baby Anne case, the Roscommon incest case and other cases in order to ensure earlier intervention in the best interests of children. The country has an abysmal record in child protection. Recent reports have highlighted the failure of the religious orders and the State in this regard. What is proposed in the referendum will be another step in the direction of providing better protection for children.

I remind colleagues that the Private Members' motion tabled by the Labour Party Senators relates to the regulation of charities. It calls for the full commencement of the Charities Act 2009 which was introduced by the previous Government. I hope everyone in the House will be in a position to support it. Representatives of stakeholder groups will be present for the debate.