IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter
Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s claim that a referendum may be needed to give adopted people basic rights has been dismissed as one which “does not survive scrutiny”.
Mr Kenny made the claim, which has been previously asserted by former children’s minister Frances Fitzgerald, in the wake of the mother-and-baby homes scandal.
The Government has promised tracing legislation for adopted people since 2011 but has so far failed to publish a heads of bill.
However, senior lecturer in Constitutional Law at UCC, Conor O’Mahony, said on his blog that such a claim was without foundation.
“This is a familiar claim when calls for reform are being resisted; governments are fond of attributing their inaction to constitutional restrictions. In this case (as in many others) the claim does not survive scrutiny,” wrote Dr O’Mahony.
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