Seanad debates

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee Stage

 

11:55 am

Photo of Jim WalshJim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's reply, particularly her comments on the schemes undertaken by the Department with Barnardos to address situations where families are in difficulties and parents are separating or divorcing. Such schemes ensure that the interests of the child are paramount.

The amendment is pertinent. An expressed intention of the referendum is that we try to achieve a situation where children are reared with their fathers and mothers. Does the Minister agree? I know that there are exceptional circumstances such as the example she gave of domestic violence. There is a role for the State to be much more proactive when dealing with these problems in families. It should assist them to move beyond their difficulties to where the children can grow up in a loving and nurturing environment. For a long period the State has failed to address the problem. I know, as I am sure other Members do, of marital relationships that ran into difficulties but the couple stayed together in the interests of the children and until they reached adulthood or thereabouts. That is commendable. Those parents put the interests of their children ahead of their own personal desires and interests and we should encourage that type of giving. When people marry and have children it is all about giving and we know that it is in the giving that one receives. We should nourish that attitude in society. There is still a low level of divorce in Ireland and we should ensure that we work to maintain it.

I am tempted to submit a matter for the Adjournment on this issue.

A recent report in Sweden dealt with mental illness in adults and compared adults from families that were divorced and families that stayed together. The report was conducted over quite a long period, from 1968 until 2006 if memory serves me correctly. It demonstrated that the incidence of mental health illness in middle-aged people from broken homes where marriages had failed was much more pronounced than for others. There are many good reasons, not least economic ones, we should plough resources into the area I have mentioned. We should assist people get over difficulties rather than take the other option, which oftentimes, I am sorry to say, social workers and the legal profession advocate. Instead, they should try to deal with the underlying difficulties to see if the relationship can be repaired and restored. We do all that in the interest of children.

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