Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. I want to be associated with all comments made on this Bill. I am not going to get into repetition mode but the mere appointment of a senior Minister with responsibility for children showed the rights of children were at the centre of the Taoiseach's concerns. It is a commitment on which he should be commended. The nomination of Senator Jillian van Turnhout, chief executive of the Children's Rights Alliance, brought further consolidation to that principle. The morning after the first sitting of this House, I told the Taoiseach in his office that it was an inspired choice. Since then, Senator van Turnhout has become a close friend and I believe my words were well sung.

I am looking forward to campaigning for this referendum more than any other because it is the right thing to do. For once, as a society, we can say we are doing the right thing for the most vulnerable group in it who do not have the power adults have. Endorsing and supporting this referendum is a credit to the political system and the main Opposition party, Fianna Fáil. The work Fianna Fáil did prior to it is also a credit. All political parties must regret it took 17 reports to reach this point. However, it is never too late to do the right thing and correct the wrongs of the past.

Not one Oireachtas Member has come out against this referendum, which is a credit. I agree with the sentiments about the McKenna judgment and the need for 50:50 broadcasting balance. There needs to be some recognition that when there is a unanimous political view, this balance may not be necessary. Senator Ó Clochartaigh is correct that if people have an issue with this referendum, then we should hear them. It was also fantastic to hear the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Diarmuid Martin, endorse this referendum this morning. However, I am not surprised as he is one of the good guys.

We all have had experience through our clinics and through local knowledge of children who have been neglected, who should have had a better chance in life and who should have been in a better place in society. We have come across horrendous stories. Some of us have come across them directly in our advice clinics while more of us have heard them within our communities. Nearly every community has had some horror story of how children were mistreated. There are, unfortunately, the celebrated cases like the Roscommon case. There are also many other horrendous stories that we will never know about. Canvassing in local elections in 2009, I did not sleep for a week with what I discovered in one house. While the Health Service Executive, HSE, and social services were involved, they were constrained in what they could do as the children's parents were married.

Now the rights of children will be enshrined in the Constitution. It is bizarre the rights of property are already enshrined in it. I have every confidence the people will do the right thing and pass this referendum. I am delighted children will be to the forefront of political discourse and analysis for the next six weeks until the referendum and, I hope, for the week or two after it is passed. It is a good beginning. Under the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, the Government's approach to this area will be child-focused and legislation, where needed, will be brought forward. In spite of the fact we are a programme country and do not have our economic independence, along with the Minister, the Taoiseach and Senator van Turnhout, we must ensure the resources for backup child care and protection services will be found.

I listened with interest to Senator Healy Eames recount her personal experience of adoption and how the benefits of a loving family can facilitate the adoption process.

If children deserve nothing else, they deserve equality. From my perspective as Fine Gael spokesperson in the Seanad on disability and equality, children with disabilities can often be treated blackguardly and certainly not treated with appropriate respect. There have been appalling examples of name calling and of how children with mental disabilities have been treated over the years. There will at least be a situation where their rights will be enshrined in the Constitution, just like the rights of every other child. We want a society where there are no barriers, where there is equality of opportunity for everybody and where young people enjoy the protection of society and the State, irrespective of who is in government, to ensure they are treated with respect and have an opportunity to enjoy education, healthy food and what many of us have had the privilege and the pleasure of enjoying. If only we had a society like that, we could call ourselves a civil society.

When this referendum is passed, we will at least be able to stand up the following day and say that the rights of children are enshrined in the Constitution. It is a powerful start. I wish the Minister well. I will dedicate myself to this campaign and to getting out to houses, on radio and onto the streets to explain to people why this is an essential referendum, probably one of the most important for the foreseeable future.