Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 124: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if she has plans to amend the Constitution in order to include express rights for children. [20164/05]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Respect for children as a global ideal has been affirmed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified, without reservation, by Dáil Éireann on 21 September 1992, the document of ratification being deposited with the Secretary General of the United Nations. The convention entered into force for Ireland on 21 October 1992.

The publication of the national children's strategy, Our Children — their Lives, in 2000 is a major initiative to progress the implementation of the convention in Ireland. The strategy is rooted in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and it sets out an ambitious set of goals and objectives to guide children's policy over a ten year period.

The issue of express inclusion of children's rights in the Constitution is a matter which has been given some consideration in recent years. The Constitution review group, CRG, in its report published in 1996 considered a number of articles of the UNCRC, namely, article 7 — name and nationality; article 3 — best interests of the child; article 9 — separation from parents; and article 18 — parental responsibilities, all of which make reference to the best interests of the child. In its published report in 1998, the CRG recommended that the Constitution be amended to include the welfare principle, and to provide an express guarantee of certain other children's rights deriving from the UN convention.

The All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution is currently carrying out a review of the Articles in the Constitution dealing with the family. This follows upon a long-standing request from the Department of Health and Children to consider a constitutional amendment to underpin the individual rights of children. The committee has stated that the study of children's rights is in the context of an examination of the place of the family in the Constitution. The committee is studying the case law that has been developed under these Articles, the report of the Constitution review group, 1996, referred to above and the report of the Commission on the Family, 1998. The committee also has available to it submissions on the family from interest groups and individuals to the Constitution review group and has sought public submissions in relation to the issues. Both the National Children's Office and the Adoption Board, which are under the aegis of my Department, have made submissions to the committee pointing out the commitments contained in the UN convention and the need to protect the rights of children in any proposed amendments to the Constitution.

The outcome of the deliberations of the committee is awaited. I understand that the committee has received a very large number of submissions from a wide range of organisations and individuals. It is anticipated that the committee will be in a position to report later this year.