A constitutional amendment protecting the rights and welfare of children could make it easier to adopt fostered children, according to the Ombudsman for Children, Ms Emily Logan. Carol Coulter reports.
It would also allow early intervention where children were at risk, she said.
Ms Logan was speaking at the publication yesterday of her submission to the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution.
The submission recommends a constitutional amendment giving children explicit rights. Ms Logan stressed that her proposal was not intended to undermine parental rights or parental autonomy.
"The Kilkenny incest case showed the need for early intervention," she said.
The author of the report into this case, now Supreme Court judge Ms Justice McGuinness, had been the first to recommend such a constitutional amendment, Ms Logan pointed out, and this had been reiterated a number of times since, including by the Review Group on the Constitution.