Children's rights referendum must be held

The long burning issue of children's rights hit the spotlight once again in the past week with the publication of the Cloyne Report; the jailing of a mother for the neglect and abuse of her children and the jailing of a school caretaker for sexually assaulting four boys at the school where he worked despite already having a conviction for sexually assaulting a pupil. That we continue to fail our children and young people time and time again is a shocking indictment of our country. While new Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald hopes to be able to present the wording for a referendum on children's rights to the Cabinet by the autumn it will be next year at the earliest before a children's rights referendum is held. Earlier this year when the present government appointed a separate Minister for Children it was seen as a very positive step forward and an indication that the long-awaited children's rights referendum might finally be held. It's vitally important that the government fastracks the wording of the referendum and puts it to the people, as evidenced by the horrific stories that have been making headlines in the past week. On Monday a Donegal school caretaker was jailed for 18 years with the last four years suspended for raping and sexually assaulting four boys at the school where he worked despite having a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a pupil. Mr Justice Paul Carney questioned how he was allowed to keep his job as caretaker of the school with the a previous conviction for a similar offence. The judge said that this conviction must have been known to local gardai and presumably the school authorities. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault in 2002, but the offences of which he was convicted on Monday took place between July 1990 and September 2005. A second case making headlines over the past week has further highlighted the need for children's rights to be copperfastened in our legislation. In Galway a 47-year-old mother was jailed for 24 years with the final 16 years suspended for the cruelty and neglect of eight of her children over a seven-year period. The abuse the children suffered was nothing short of horrific with the charges relating to two of her sons and six of her daughters. These included being present when one daughter was tied to a tree and whipped until she was nearly dead. The mother laughed at her as she untied her later. Her mother regularly locked a vice grips to her nose, ears or lips for an hour at a time to punish her. She also beat one of her sons with whips and sticks in a bid to make him look disabled so that she could claim extra social welfare benefits for him. When the children were eventually taken into care they were all infested with head lice, had very little clothing, wore no underwear and didn't know how to wear underwear when given some by carers. The abuse suffered by these children was horrific by any standards, but the saddest part about this case is that these children were only taken into care in 2009 despite the Health Service Executive having knowledge of the family since 2000. There are serious issues with our system if such vulnerable children can be subjected to this level of abuse for nine years when the authorities had knowledge of the family. The publication of the Cloyne Report last week further highlighted the need to address the issue of children's rights. Among the main findings of the report were the fact that in most cases gardai were not informed of the abuse allegations against clergy, the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne ignored the church's own guidelines on child protection as recently as 2009 and that the diocese put far too much emphasis on the concerns of the alleged offenders. It's time to say enough is enough when it comes to the neglect and abuse of children, sexual or otherwise. It's high time that those running our country focused on what is important and the rights and protection of children is certainly far more important than issues such as a dress code for the Dáil. For once let's make sure that our priorities are correct and the we put the safety of our most vulnerable citizens above all else.