The Government is hoping to get Opposition parties to sign up to a commitment over the coming weeks to hold a referendum on children's rights in the autumn.
This follows growing recognition within Government that it will not be possible to get agreement on a referendum before the general election.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had expressed support for a pre-election referendum, but Fine Gael and Labour have warned that it is too complex to debate within such a short period of time.
The changes to the Constitution are aimed at providing greater recognition for children's rights, as well as providing for more robust child-protection measures.
The Government is now focusing on securing all-party agreement to the main propositions set out in the planned referendum. This could be accompanied with a declaration to hold a referendum at the soonest available opportunity once a new government is formed.
Once a general election is called, any legislation that has not yet been enacted automatically falls. A declaration of intent to hold a referendum, however, could help maintain the momentum behind the current proposals.
"There is a good basis for agreement on the issues. We would like to find a way forward with some form of declaration or commitment which would survive an election and not just disappear into the ether," a senior Government source said.
Fine Gael and Labour have expressed support for provisions of the referendum which relate to child protection, but have voiced concern about some of the planned changes on children's rights. They have suggested holding two separate referendums, however, the Government has insisted that all issues should be dealt with in a single vote.
In the area of children's rights, the changes are aimed at ensuring the best interests of children apply in court cases relating to them; making children's individual rights more explicit; introducing a uniform standard of child protection for all children, regardless of the marital status of their parents; and to remove barriers which prevent children born into a marital family from being adopted.
In the area of child protection, State agencies would be able to share so-called "soft" information about suspected paedophiles, which they cannot do now because it interferes with a person's constitutional rights.
This would allow for information on suspected paedophiles to be shared among relevant bodies even in cases where a conviction had not been secured.
It would also provide for the introduction of a strict liability offence for adults who have sex with children. Strict liability would remove the defence of "honest mistake" available to adults and introduce a zone of absolute protection, below which it would be automatically criminal to have sex with a child.
The age at which this zone of protection comes into force will be left for the Oireachtas to decide.
Most of the contentious public debate over the referendum has focused on whether changes will undermine parental rights. The Government has insisted parental rights will not be affected.
The issue of State intervention in families on child-protection grounds has also emerged as a potentially divisive point. The Government maintains that the grounds justifying State intervention in families will not change.
