Children’s rights are a constitutional issue

HISTORY repeated itself again last week with the Supreme Court ruling on statutory child rape. Significant childcare law and policy developments in Ireland have resulted primarily from external criticism from the UN and within from child abuse inquiries.

The reactive approach to the Supreme Court ruling, despite the knowledge of the 1990 Law Reform Commission report, highlights the low priority of children in our society.

We’re still a long way from an integrated and proactive approach to children’s welfare.