FF proposes referendum on adoption

Fianna Fáil is proposing a referendum on adoption take place on the same day as the Presidential election later this year.

Donegal North-East TD Charlie McConalogue said the Constitution needed to be changed to remove barriers to adoption for children who are originally born to married parents.

“I hope that all parties will actually be able to support this tonight and that this very important referendum will be run alongside the Presidential election so that those children would actually have the right to be adopted,” Mr McConalogue said.

He said there were currently about 5,200 children in foster care, with a third of them were in long-term foster care, which was very unusual by international standards.

“We estimated that there’s roughly maybe 1,000 children in that category who cannot be adopted who might wish to be adopted,” he said.

Fianna Fáil is using its private members business time in the Dáil tonight to propose the 29th Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2011.

In February 2010, a cross-party Oireachtas committee chaired by Fianna Fáil's Mary O’Rourke proposed, among other things, that married parents could consent to having their children placed for adoption if a constitutional amendment on children’s rights was supported in a referendum.

The then minister of state for children Barry Andrews went on to say some of the committee’s wording had “unanticipated consequences”.

However, Mr McConalogue said the wording relating to the adoption of children of married parents was “non-contentious”.

Mr McConalogue accused the Government of reneging on an election promise to hold a children’s rights referendum quickly.

“The current Government when they were in Opposition a few months ago were hounding the Government to actually set a date, actually gave a commitment that they would, and as soon as they’ve got into power now have kicked it out to next year.”