The Government is to avoid changing the constitutional definition of the family in the planned referendum on children's rights because of fears it could spark a divisive campaign over parents' rights being undermined.
Instead, the wording for the referendum is likely to include two amendments to the Constitution which would strengthen a child's right to be protected from mistreatment and lower the threshold for State intervention to protect a child from abuse.
The proposed changes are likely to result in an increase in the number of children being placed in State care or transferred to the care of other family members.
Meanwhile Minister for Children Brian Lenihan has confirmed to The Irish Times that he will meet Catholic Church representatives in mid-January to discuss a referendum wording.
He said he had already completed preliminary consultations with all the political parties, as well as children's rights groups.
"A very general goodwill has been extended to proposals to have a referendum on strengthening the position of children in the Constitution," he said.
The Minister said he was anxious to consult with all the churches and different faith groups. He had met Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Dr John Neill before Christmas "and had good preliminary discussions".
In mid-January, he will meet the Catholic Church's Episcopal Conference.
Mr Lenihan said he did not want to pre-empt the likely shape of a wording at this stage but said once he had met the Catholic Church, he would then be putting together concrete proposals that he hoped to have finalised by the end of January.
The Irish Times understands that even though the constitutional definition of the family - which refers to a family's "inalienable and imprescriptible rights" - has been identified as a barrier to the State intervening in cases of alleged child abuse, the Government will avoid changing it. Government sources say they fear such a move could lead to accusations that the State was undermining the status of the family and reducing parents' rights.
Senior sources say the referendum is likely to propose:
Inserting a provision into Article 40, which deals with personal rights, affording all children, whether from marital or non-marital families, protection from mistreatment and abuse.
At present children's rights are not recognised in this section of the Constitution.
Lowering the threshold for the State to intervene in cases where the welfare of a child is under threat by amending Article 42.5.
At present, this article states that such intervention can only take place in "exceptional cases" where parents fail their children as a result of "physical or moral reasons".
Meanwhile, it is not clear yet whether a referendum will address legal issues arising from the statutory rape crisis earlier this year. Government ministers said the plebiscite could also reinstate the legal status quo, which prevented an adult from claiming "honest mistake" for sexual activity involving a child.
However, more recently, senior sources have signalled that the Government is wary of addressing this area over fears it could re-ignite controversy over plans to set the legal age for sexual consent at 16.
No decision has yet been made whether to drop these plans, senior Government sources say.
Mr Lenihan said his discussions with the parties to date had touched on areas other than a proposed referendum and included the wider issue of child protection and child welfare.
"We examined provisions in articles 40 and 41 and 42 of the Constitution and the whole question of ensuring when children are in care in the adoption process, their best interests are secured."
