Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and commend her for the terrific amount of work that she had done on the referendum. My fellow colleagues on all sides of the House share that view. I also commend Senator Norris for tabling the motion.

We cannot reiterate enough that the substance of the referendum's proposal is not affected by today's ruling. We need to send that message and repeat it as often as we can in the next 36 hours. The referendum shall go ahead on Saturday. The argument for putting the explicit rights of children in the Constitution remains the same as it did 19 years ago when it was first called for by Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness.

The amendment provides an explicit guarantee that the State will protect the rights of children. It will allow for adoption that is in the best interests of children, regardless of marital status. It will ensure that the best interests and views of a child will be taken into account when the courts make decisions on particular cases. We have all made the same argument and it was done in an eloquent manner today.

On a personal note, I spoke to a foster parent the other day whom I had not met for a number of years. I happened to bump into her and asked her about the children in her care. She became extremely tearful when she told me about a child whom I had known. He had been in my son's class and had made his communion on the same day. He had been completely abandoned by his parents but she looked after him. She had bought his First Holy Communion suit and looked forward to the day when she was informed by the social worker that his parents had decided that she could not go to his First Holy Communion, despite all of her efforts.

The little fellow, who has an intellectual disability, went to the First Holy Communion ceremony and immediately afterwards was taken kicking and screaming - I saw this myself - to respite care, where he was left for the weekend. Our own child was being taken out for a meal, as were all the other children who were present. I ask how anyone could even consider voting "No" and people must come out to vote. I urge everyone in the country to turn out to vote on Saturday. They should not only vote but should vote "Yes" in the interests of all children.