Cowen refuses to be drawn on date for referendum

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen again refused to be drawn on a date for a referendum on children’s rights.

On Tuesday, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said she personally favoured holding the referendum on its own, but she declined to name a date.

Yesterday, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny noted Ms Coughlan had also rejected claims that the Government was afraid to hold the referendum because it would feel obliged to also have the three byelections on the same date.

Mr Cowen said he could not anticipate the Government’s decision.

“Obviously, the Tánaiste gave the deputy the benefit of her views on the matter. The Government will make a decision in due course.’’

Pressed by Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, the Taoiseach said he was being asked to anticipate ongoing work and give a timeline for it.

He added that the Oireachtas committee which agreed a wording had taken two years and three months to reach its final conclusions. “The Government is not asking, or suggesting, that such time is required to come to a conclusion. However, it is important to complete our work in a thorough fashion.’’

He added that the Government did not want to recommend amending the Constitution by way of a Bill that was flawed or might have unintended consequences.

In the debate on a Labour-Sinn Féin Private Members motion calling for a referendum this year, which was rejected by the Government, Fianna Fáil backbencher Mary O’Rourke repeated her call for a date to be set.

Ms O’Rourke, who chaired the Oireachtas committee, said there was all-party support for the wording, which was rare. “I would ask the Government to, please, this year of 2010, have a referendum on children’s rights.’’

Fine Gael’s Alan Shatter said he regretted his party was not asked to sign the Labour-SF motion, adding he assumed it was simply an oversight.

The committee, he said, had secured a political consensus and a form of wording which reflected the State’s obligations under the UN convention on the rights of the child, while providing children with far greater constitutional protection than they had at present.

Labour’s Kathleen Lynch said that Daniel McAnaspie was one of over 20 children who had died in HSE care. “We know that many others have gone missing in the care of the same institution. The Ferns, Murphy and Ryan reports detailed horrific abuse of children for which the State must also share some responsibility.’’

Sinn Féin’s Martin Ferris said that under-investment and under-resourcing in education, child protection, social welfare and family supports was the Government’s recurring agenda. “We are consistently being told there is no money, but there is conveniently a substantial amount of money when it comes to bailing out bankers.’’