Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he believed the Government had struck the right balance between child protection, children's rights and the rights of families and parents in the proposed wording for a Constitutional referendum.
He made his comments in the Dáil as Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said his party believed they should proceed as soon as possible with a referendum on the proposal for the "zone of protection" for children against sexual predators.
They should, however, wait and hold a national debate on the other issues, which deal with matters such as welfare, custody, guardianship, care and adoption.
Mr Rabbitte raised the proposed referendum during leaders' questions and said that the two issues dealing with criminal law and sexual predators had been subject to detailed examination by the All-party committee on the Constitution.
He pointed out that there was a consensus among all political parties about the question of the zone of protection for children, the age below which would be automatically criminal to have sex with a child.
He added, however, that "the other five proposals have not been the subject of any such discussion, although there is a necessity to tease out their implications. They are complex and there has been no national debate," and he believed such a debate would be necessary.
He referred to the Whitaker review of the constitution which discussed the issue of whether "a prohibition on two such different questions" being taken in a single vote.
Mr Rabbitte said a referendum on the zone of protection could be taken at the same time as the general election and then allow "adequate time for a national debate" on the "other bundle of issues".
Mr Ahern said that throughout this debate he had been "fair, frank and open". He said the Government's view "is that all these issues need to be dealt with". He called on the Opposition parties to make arrangements to consider the issue with the Government parties.
"We will listen to views and I have stated that we want consensus before we go forward." He added that "if there is a wish for a discussion on the other two, we will have it".
The Taoiseach pointed out that none of the issues "will undermine the role of parents or the constitutional safeguards for the family. We have been careful in all our discussions to try to define these."
