THE ALL-PARTY consensus on the children’s rights referendum could be eroded if the poll is not held soon, Fianna Fáil TD Mary O’Rourke has warned.
The former education minister chaired the Oireachtas joint committee that arrived at an agreed wording to put before the people.
"We had a great consensus built up, that gave its own momentum towards the holding [of the referendum] and I fear falling back from that will have undesirable consequences in that the consensus would begin to fritter away," Ms O'Rourke told RTÉ's News at Oneyesterday.
She was reacting to comments by Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews who indicated on Tuesday that the vote would not take place this year because of concerns raised over the wording by different Government departments, particularly in relation to issues of justice, health and education.
Ms O’Rourke said she was “very conscious” of the need for any government to ensure that a referendum wording was properly thought out: “We had enough of that in the early 1980s.”
The joint committee had “worked very hard” on a consensus basis to come forward with a proposed wording but Government departments had identified “what they saw as unexpected, hitherto-unthought-of pitfalls in the wording”.
She added: “Now, we had very strong legal advice on the wording but it appears as if the pitfalls of which I speak have emerged from various Government departments.”
She said she “would be worried that time is advancing and going on”. A referendum commission had to be set up three months in advance of voting day and “that sort of virtually rules out this year”. Then it would be 2011 “and the consensus would wear thin”.
She knew from experience that “civil servants and ministers when they get around a table . . . are inclined to sometimes extend debate into nit-picking”.
Ms O’Rourke said she hoped this was not the case. Although the amendment would not be a panacea, it would “give a shape to children’s rights”. She added: “I hope the constant scrutiny which this wording has undergone will soon result in consensus at Cabinet.”
The joint committee membership drew from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour, the Greens and Sinn Féin. Last February, after 62 meetings over two years, it unanimously recommended wording for a new article 42 in the Constitution, expressly recognising the rights of children.
