I welcome the passing of the children's rights referendum. We all have many lessons to learn from the referendum. The low turnout was, whether we like it, an indictment of the political system and how all of us in all parties and none - I will not apportion blame - worked towards the referendum. The result was not a resounding "Yes" but I still firmly believe the changes to be brought forward in the Constitution will be important to protect children. When the dust settles the House should examine and debate in a calm and clear way the advice the Attorney General gave the Government on the publication of the Government's booklet to ensure we do not make again the mistakes we made in this referendum. I believe the turnout was low for various reasons and I will not apportion blame in any way, shape or form. We must look back and wonder why only 32% of our people voted in the referendum. We must look with a critical cold eye at what we can do differently and how we can represent and present a referendum in future.

I wish to follow up on several issues which I have raised on a number of occasions. The Minister for Health will come to the House this afternoon, and I am sure our health spokesperson will also raise this matter with him. Where stand the cuts to home help with regard to the 950,000 hours which have been taken out of the system this year? A cut of 450,000 home help hours was signed off by the Minister in mid-October for a paltry €8 million saving. All of us receive letters, telephone calls and e-mails from families about home help hours being arbitrarily cut.

I asked Senator Bacik if she had raised the issue with the Minister for Health last week and she said that she had. I am sure Fine Gael Senators have also raised the issue with him. I have written to him as many of my colleagues in Fianna Fáil have done. Will the cuts stand or will the Government reverse what I am sure we all agree, if we leave politics at the door, are the most unfair and unjust cuts to people who badly need assistance and want to be cared for at home? The financial argument for the cuts simply does not stand up. The less care people receive in their homes will mean that more of them, mainly elderly people, will end up in hospitals. They do not want to be there. They do not want to be cared for in hospitals and we all know this.

Will the Government reverse the cut of 950,000 hours introduced this year? I remind Senators that, on page 38 of the programme for Government, Fine Gael and the Labour Party signed up to not only maintaining home help, carers' allowances and home care packages, but to increasing them. Savage cuts have been made in the sector that affect people throughout the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland. I believe the Minister will take the opportunity today to clarify once and for all whether he will proceed with the cuts and whether he will admit that a mistake has been made and decide to reverse these utterly unjust cuts.

I join in Senator Darragh O'Brien's welcome for the result of the children's rights referendum and agree that lessons must be learned. There is a concern for us as politicians and wider civil society that a large portion of civil society could support such a measure, yet there was a low turnout. I suspect that the last couple of days of the campaign brought about a change of heart on the part of some persons who would have voted for the referendum. I strongly agree that we need to reflect.

I also agree with the Senator about the cuts to the home care package. The House needs a wider debate on the budget and budgetary measures. Perhaps we could have a full session, in the same way that committees have done, where Members of all parties could express their full and informed thoughts on various aspects that are under consideration for the upcoming budget. I believe the House has something to say on the subject.

I welcome Ireland's appointment to the United Nations Human Rights Council. It is a great achievement for the country and is an endorsement of our history of human rights advocacy. I congratulate the Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, on the part he played in bringing about that appointment.

I also welcome the Tánaiste's comments on gay marriage and the need for a constitutional referendum in this regard. We have made progress in the recognition of non-formal couples in recent years. As the Tánaiste rightly pointed out, however, it is merely a halfway house and does not represent equality.

I note that eight Irish authors have been longlisted for the IMPAC awards. It is a great achievement for a country of this size that our mark on the world of literature is so strong. I hope the eight authors who have been longlisted will be shortlisted.

I congratulate the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, his Department, the permanent missions of Ireland to the United Nations in Geneva and New York, and everyone else involved in Ireland's successful bid to secure a seat on the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. It will be an interesting three years and I look forward to Ireland's renewed focus on the implementation of the Human Rights Council's universal periodic review recommendations now that we have member status.

With very warm wishes I say "well done" to everyone involved in the successful passage of the referendum on children's rights, especially to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald. This is a gratifying time for me personally and professionally.

I have campaigned for many years for this referendum and I anticipated the margin to be much more narrow as this is a difficult issue involving profound social change. Much comparison has been taking place in the media with previous referendums and I note this referendum pertained to social change. As this was a major difference from previous referendums, it is difficult to make comparisons. I believe this referendum will be transformative and the full extent of its impact is not yet known. A case will appear before the Supreme Court in ten or 20 years time, after which people will know that on Saturday, 10 November 2012, they made a difference. However, I also urge caution in dismissing the "No" vote. I spoke at many meetings throughout the country and some of that "No" vote reflected a real fear of the social services and this is something to which Members must listen. One cannot simply dismiss the "No" vote by suggesting they all were anti-government. People have had negative experiences, in the current period or previously as children or as family or friends. Consequently, the Leader should facilitate the appearance in the House of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs at the earliest opportunity to discuss in particular the report of the task force on the child and family support agency, which was published in July. Members must play a role in shaping that new agency and they should address the fears people have raised. In addition, they also could discuss the fifth report of the special rapporteur on child protection and the Ryan report implementation plan, on which a three-year progress report was published earlier today. I also ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to introduce the adoption Bill to this House first. This issue is intricate and some of the relevant concerns were raised ensuring the debate. This legislation will require timely and well thought out debate.

I ask the Leader to schedule a debate in a timely manner after the Supreme Court judgment is given on 11 December. As the date on which the Supreme Court will give its detailed judgment is known, Members should have a timely debate to discuss the full implications.