The Ombudsman for Children has recommended a constitutional amendment to give protection to the rights of children. Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Correspondent, reports.
In its first public submission since the office was set up just under a year ago, the Ombudsman, Ms Emily Logan, will publish today its submission to the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution with its key recommendation on the rights of children.
At the moment children's rights are not specified in the Constitution, which instead gives specified rights to the family based on marriage. The rights in Article 41 on the family belong not to individual members of the family but to the unit as a whole. Only in exceptional cases, where the parents fail in their duty towards the child, can the State intervene.
This has meant, for example, that it is almost impossible to adopt the children of married parents even though some such children spend their entire childhoods in foster care. It has also hindered interventions in families where abuse of children has taken place.
Ms Logan said the Constitution should be amended to ensure the right of children to have their welfare protected "is given the paramountcy it deserves". Her submission says: "The current position of children in the Irish Constitution is a matter of concern."
It suggests that, in defining these express rights, the committee should consider the rights enumerated in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Ireland ratified the UN convention on September 21st, 1992. However, this does not form part of domestic law, which is framed by the Constitution.
The rights of children as spelled out in this convention include the right to life and the right to express their views freely. In all matters affecting the child their views should "be given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child". They also include the child's right to know and be cared for by his or her parents, extending to the right to regular contact with an absent parent if the parents are separated.
Also mentioned are the rights to the protection of the law against interference with his or her privacy, family home or correspondence, and the right to "a living standard adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development".