A Constitutional referendum on children's rights is the greatest monument the State can leave in the aftermath of the Ryan Report, the Green Party said last night.Urging all the political parties to urgently hammer out an agreement, party leader John Gormley said the issue of holding a referendum had been debated for more than four years and the time for debate is now over.
The Green Party leader also claimed the 2002 indemnity deal had let the religious orders "off the hook".
"I would urge all parties to find consensus through the work of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children, which is due to report in September."
Chairwoman of that committee Mary O'Rourke said she is convinced that until a constitutional amendment is sent out to the people to vote on, politicians will not have ensured children have their rights.
Health Minister Mary Harney said the Government was reflecting the interest of society in requiring "far more" from the religious orders.
But reputations are much more difficult to repair than balance sheets, Ms Harney claimed.
Fine Gael's Phil Hogan said where prosecutions were warranted they had to be taken.
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