Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of Fine Gael, I share Senator White's remarks about the Minister. In fairness to the Senator she was the friendly opposition when her party was in government. I recall that when I was a councillor and she criticised Fianna Fáil I admired her. It is not an organisation that is easily criticised, in particular when in government and one is a Senator representing that party. The Senator's remarks about this Bill are appropriate.

I welcome the Minister to the House. This Bill is necessary as a result of what happened in Russia which, again, was something out of our control. For the first time in the history of this State we have a senior ministry with responsibility for children. It has a huge programme of work to do. As a result of the children's referendum children are now at the centre of our Constitution, which brings with it huge responsibilities and a huge programme of work. When situations arise which are out of our control, such as that which is addressed in this legislation, they add to that programme of work but are extremely important. This matter had to be addressed to ensure certainty and a future for the 23 Irish families who were in the process of adopting children from Russia. It is hoped that following enactment of this Bill their situations will be regularised, allowing them to have a happy and peaceful Christmas in the knowledge that 2014 will bring certainty to their situations.

I listened with great interest to Senator White's remarks in respect of two of the families involved. It is our responsibility to ensure that families in this country are protected. In spite of what happens internationally, we will always do our best to ensure that our laws reflect what is best practice and the right and appropriate thing to do. It is appropriate that the Seanad would meet on this Friday morning before Christmas to ensure that this emergency legislation is brought over the line.

Any piece of legislation must be proofed and the consequences for others as a result of legislation being introduced must also be examined. I commend the Minister and her officials on ensuring we can have this legislation as quickly as we are getting it and giving certainty to those 23 families. If the legislation is proofed, it will not have a ripple effect on other scenarios, which is also important.

The agenda of children in this country is something that successive previous Governments on all sides have neglected. In this Administration we have started to put children to the fore by having a Minister in the Cabinet. I hope the foundation built with having Deputy Frances Fitzgerald as Minister will by 2016 lead to us setting international standards and best practice in the protection of the welfare of children. Many people in both Houses are really passionate about the issue and believe that Ireland can come from the dark ages, where we have been over the last number of decades, to a new scenario where every child in the country is cherished the way we all want to see them cherished. This is an example of what can be done, and I am not confident that any previous Administration would have been able to react appropriately to this issue in the time limit in which the Minister and officials have done. It is heartening to hear the all-party support for these types of initiatives. Children are not party political but the issue is still political and, as such, as professional politicians we have a responsibility to ensure that the right politics prevails to protect children in our society and ensure that they are allowed to develop as we would like them to.

I have nothing more to say on this important legislation. The sooner we get it over the line, the better. I wish the Minister and her officials a very happy Christmas. What is happening today and what happened in Dáil Éireann yesterday evening is a good day's work.