Publication of Referendum Bill and Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2012

For too long in Ireland we lived by the dictum that children should be seen and not heard.

On November 10th we have the opportunity change all of that.

Because with the Children’s referendum it is proposed for the first time in the history of this Republic to ask the people to vote to insert an article in the Constitution dedicated entirely to children as individuals as citizens in their own right.

I hope there will be cross-party support for this development.

And today in publishing the wording of the referendum and the Adoption (Amendment) Bill, this government is proposing a second chance for some of Ireland’s most vulnerable children.

As we did with the European Stability Referendum earlier this year, the Government is committed to ensuring that the Irish people have all the information they need to make an informed decision on the 10th of November. To that end there will be a well resourced Referendum Commission along with a comprehensive Government information campaign.

The Chief Justice has nominated Ms. Justice Mary Finlay-Geoghegan to be chair of the Referendum Commission, and the Minister Hogan is today making the necessary Order to establish the Referendum Commission under the Referendum Act.

Since the Kilkenny Incest Report in 1993 – nearly 20 years ago – we’ve had 17 more reports on child welfare, one more scalding than the next.

In holding this referendum it is the government’s intention to put these – and indeed all – Children First.

Child Protection is difficult terrain, but over the last 18 months, intensive work has been done by Minister Frances Fitzgerald and her new dedicated Department for Children & Youth Affairs. I would like to thank the Oireachtas Committees, and all of the Groups and individuals who have been involved in this process, in whatever way, for seeing this day become a reality.

Along with these two publications this morning, a major programme of legislative reform is in the area of child protection has been underway:

We now have the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information Concerning Offences against Children and Vulnerable Adults) Act 2012
The National Vetting Bureau Bill 2011 commenced in the Dáil yesterday
The Children First Bill 2012 is making good progress. It will put the Children First National Guidelines for child protection on a statutory basis.
And crucially, a new Child and Family Support Agency will be established in January 2013.

The extensive time and energy put into making and enforcing these new laws reflects the priority the government attaches to child protection.

These reforms will be both substantial and sustaining for the next generation.

It is in the context of our government being a reforming government, guaranteeing rights living up to its responsibilities that we will put this wording on the protection of our children to the Irish People on November 10th.