Child protection ‘requires changes to Constitution’

THE Ombudsman for Children has said three articles of the Constitution need to be changed to protect children’s rights.

The Government is planning a referendum on children’s rights and, although no date for the proposed plebiscite has yet been set, Children’s Minister Brian Lenihan has begun consultations on the wording.

The ombudsman, Emily Logan, met with Mr Lenihan in December to discuss the proposed constitutional change, and undertook to submit written advice on the matter.

Yesterday, her office published that advice, in which Ms Logan said there was “a lack of clarity” about the status of children’s rights.

Referring to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s statement in November that children’s rights should have “a central place” in the Constitution, Ms Logan said amendments were necessary to bring this about.

“Changes need to be made to Articles 40, 41 and 42 of the Constitution,” she said.

“The State needs to support families, consider the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and set out a clear, unambiguous position of children’s rights in the Constitution.”

The ombudsman said that in her submission, she had confined herself to her statutory role of providing advice on children’s rights, and had not proposed any wording.

However, she said the Government should be guided by the UN Convention when approaching the issue, stressing that the relevant words were “best interests”, “non-discrimination”, “family rights” and “participation”.

“[The convention] is consistent with the Irish Constitution in terms of its presumption that the family environment is the optimal environment for a child’s growth and wellbeing,” Ms Logan said.

“The State needs to recognise the many changes and challenges facing families today, which requires parents to be given better State support.”

This support should take the shape of all appropriate legislative, administrative, financial and other measures, she indicated.

“Irish people demonstrated their concern for children’s wellbeing last summer following the Supreme Court judgment on statutory rape,” Ms Logan said. “Hopefully, this year they will have an opportunity to effect legislative change to strengthen children’s rights.”

Mr Lenihan hopes to submit a proposed wording for the referendum to the Government this month.

The Government has indicated that, if there is support for the proposed amendments, it will proceed with the referendum in the spring.