The Children's Rights Referendum will be held on Saturday November 10th. I welcome, first of all, that it will be held on a Saturday as this ensures children will not have to be taken from school for the referendum to take place.
What's it about?
The Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution proposes changing our constitution based on the following key objectives:
o Protecting Children;
o Supporting Families;
o Removing Inequalities in Adoption;
o Recognising children in their own right.
The referendum is taking place, in particular, to make sure there are no inequalities between children when it comes to adoption.
Why is it Needed?
The purpose of the Amendment is to expressly recognise children in their own right within the Constitution.
This would mean that each child enjoys rights and deserves certain protections from the State by virtue of the fact that, as a child, they are vulnerable.
Putting dedicated provisions for children into the Constitution has long been called for by expert groups, including the:
· Kilkenny Incest Investigation (1993)
· Constitution Review Group (1996)
· All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution (2006)
· Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children (2010)
Last year, there were about 30,000 child protection and welfare concerns reported to the welfare services, the vast majority of which are dealt with by way of supports to the parents and family. Of these 30,000, over 16,000 were child welfare concerns. Last year in Ireland there were 1500 cases of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
For these reasons above, I will be campaigning for a Yes vote on November 10th.
Information Campaign
For more information on the background to the referendum and to see the full wording of the Amendment, you can visit www.childrensreferendum.ie .
I will be putting up further thoughts on the referendum here throughout the campaign, but please free to contact me on 01 618 3280 or john.lyons@oir.ie if you have any questions on specific issues.
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