Seanad debates

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages

 

5:15 pm

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators for their contributions. Everyone engaged so positively in the debate on the amendments. I thank those Senators who tabled amendments. As a number of speakers noted, discussing the matters relating to those amendments will assist people in understanding the proposed constitutional amendment during the referendum campaign.

I thank the members of the various political parties in the House and the Independent Senators for their support and positive engagement in respect of the Bill. We must ensure that the vision we have shared with each other today is communicated to the public in the coming weeks and that we engage in the kind of debate that is necessary. We are aware from previous referenda that people must be informed. It is critical that they are informed and that they understand what is being asked of them, otherwise ambivalence arises in the context of what is intended. We do not want the latter to happen.

I take the opportunity to thank the officials from my Department who have worked extraordinarily hard in the past year in putting together the constitutional amendment. Given that the Department is new and that we were trying to establish it while also drawing up the amendment, they have done great work. I pay tribute to those members of my staff who spent many hours, weeks and months working on the amendment with me.

I also pay tribute to the Attorney General and her staff for the work they did. The Attorney General displayed significant commitment and dedication in respect of preparing the Bill. We engaged in many detailed discussions together. As stated earlier, we considered quite a range of formulations before choosing the particular wording contained in the legislation.

The staff have devoted significant amounts of their time and we considered a large volume of legal opinion on a variety of formulations and wordings because every word has implications and must be treated very seriously.

I pay tribute to the vital engagement of the wider civic society in the preparation of the proposed amendment. The role of the wider civic society has been significant in the work of allowing children a more central role and in ensuring we do the right thing for the protection of children, whether by way of legislation or a constitutional amendment or in the provision of resources. Civic organisations have worked to ensure the children of our nation are given a more central place and are given greater recognition and protection. They will undertake a nationwide campaign in favour of the amendment of the Constitution and I hope the public will hear what they have to say.

This is also the time to reflect on the courage of particular individuals who have spoken out about their own personal experiences as children, which in some cases have been very difficult. It requires an extraordinary act of bravery to stand up to talk about one's personal experience when that is an experience of abuse and difficulty. I am thinking of many of them as I say this. We owe them a debt of gratitude because they have been so courageous in facing up to their own internal demons in many cases and sharing them with us. Their actions have helped in the future protection of children.

This amendment will recognise children in their own right in our most fundamental law, the Constitution. It is regarded as merely symbolic by some but it is clear from the discussion in the House today that it is not merely symbolic but it is also practical. Its practical implications will be visible in decisions affecting children. It will impact on judicial decisions and also in case law. It will provide an opportunity and a challenge to the Supreme Court and the Judiciary to interpret the provision. As Senator Rónán Mullen has said this will be interpreted by the Supreme Court although it is not easy to predict in what circumstances this will arise.

The proposed Article 42A.1 refers to the natural and imprescriptible rights of all children. This is a strong message from the Legislature about this central issue. It will provide rights and protections for all children regardless of the marital status of parents. Many people are surprised to realise that children are not treated equally with regard to the marital status of their parents. They cannot quite believe that in 2012 this is still the constitutional position but this proposed amendment will change it.

Constitutional change is but one aspect of the change and it is not a panacea. This point has been made by many speakers in the debate. I acknowledge that the issue of resources and legislation need to be dealt with and these will be challenges. When this referendum is passed, I will do my best to prioritise the adoption and tracing legislation that will be required and the establishment of the new agency and the legislation to allow for best interests of the child and for the views of the child to be taken into account.

This proposed amendment is a first step but it gives the child a central place in our Constitution and it will have an impact in other areas. The Constitution currently does not adequately differentiate between the needs of children and adults and this amendment will do so. I thank all Senators for grasping the opportunity by supporting this amendment. I thank everyone who has worked with me over recent years and those who have contributed to this work over a long period. I refer in particular to former Deputy Mary O'Rourke and the members of the joint committee; the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, who has played a key role in highlighting these issues; many named Senators; non-governmental organisations; previous Ministers who have worked to bring this to the point where I am fortunate to present the wording to the people on 10 November. I hope the choice of a Saturday for voting will allow more people to vote. This has been called for and here is the opportunity to prove that the electorate will use the opportunity. I hope students, young people and families will vote. I hope the choice of a Saturday will result in more people voting and it means that schools will not need to close. I thank all Senators for their contributions to the debate which has been helpful in outlining the key issues.

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