Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader the procedure for withdrawing a motion from the Order Paper, because I am delighted that just before Christmas, at the eleventh hour, the Government stepped in to support the Childline motion that was put forward by my colleague Senator Bacik and myself but supported right across the House. I thank all my Seanad colleagues. This is, yet again, an example of how the Seanad has shown that we can join forces, ensuring that Childline continues to offer its services 24 hours a day for vulnerable children and young people across Ireland. I acknowledge and thank the Government, particularly the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, for finding a way forward, and also thank the generosity of the Irish people. The Irish people primarily fund Childline and it is their generosity that has ensured it remains open. It is a good news story. We have a motion on the Order Paper and perhaps I can be advised on whether I need to move it or how we move that forward. It is a good news day.

I reiterate a request I made in September 2014 that we hold a full debate in the Seanad on the concluding observations of the UN Human Rights Committee. The committee published its concluding observations after the fourth periodic review of Ireland's compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 24 July 2014. As I stated previously, a number of the committee's recommendations concern issues on which I and other Senators have spoken and advocated in this House, such as asylum and direct provision, trafficking, the institutional abuse of women and children, symphysiotomy and the need to ban corporal punishment of children in all settings. I believe that there needs to be far more parliamentary scrutiny of Ireland's human rights treaty obligations and the State must be answerable not only to international treaty monitoring bodies but to us all. We are well placed here in the Seanad, with our wide and varying expertise, to offer guidance on how best the State can follow up on and comply with the recommendations. I call on the Leader to hold a debate in this House on the concluding observations of the UN committee.