Referendum on children's rights unlikely to be held before election

It is unlikely that there will be a referendum on the rights of children before the general election, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice has said.

At the One Family conference at the weekend on the impact of divorce on children, Michael McDowell also said it was not always practicable for children to have separate legal representation in family law cases, and their best interests could not always be held supreme in disputed custody cases.

On separate representation for children, he said it was an "attractive proposition".

"The question is who decides who should represent the child? What values and prejudices will they bring to the the table? The choice of who represents the child would be a choice about what the arguments were and whoever made the choice would be adding their voice to the mix."

He referred also to the proposition that the best interests of the child should always be the decisive factor. "If those interests come into conflict with the rights of a parent or the assertion of those rights is asserted by an interested party . . . it's not that easy when we look at what it all actually means in practice.

"So it doesn't look likely there will be a children's rights constitutional referendum before the election, whenever that may be, and we will have to look carefully at some of these issues before we proceed."

There was speculation late last year, when the Taoiseach announced his intention to hold a referendum on the rights of children, that it would be held before the general election; some said it was likely to be this month.

Mr McDowell said that society had a "fundamental interest in backing up a coherent and stable existence for the child". However, society should not "glibly assume there's a simple solution".