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[7 February 2008] - The Children's Ombudsman is opposed to holding two separate referendums on children's rights and child protection. Emily Logan said she has "serious concerns" about proposals being mooted at Cabinet to hold a "mini" referendum on the same day as the vote on the European Union reform treaty. Some ministers hope turnout for the reform treaty referendum - expected to be held in May - would be boosted by holding the vote on child protection on the same day. The Government is keen to have child-protection measures put on a constitutional footing after the controversy in 2006 when the Supreme Court found aspects of legislation governing unlawful carnal knowledge was unconstitutional. Last week the Taoiseach accepted that the All-Party Oireachtas committee which, is hoping to achieve political consensus on the issue, would not be ready to make a full recommendation by the end of the year. "As the person with statutory responsibility for promoting children's rights and welfare in Ireland, I have serious concerns about the growing political pressure for an early but limited referendum dealing only with the issue of child protection. "I do not support any proposal to hold a limited referendum. If the joint committee requires more time to deal with all of the pertinent issues I would support the extension of its work," Ms Logan said. She has written to the Taoiseach outlining her concerns which she will present them to the committee next week. Under the current proposal, an amendment dealing exclusively with the constitutional power to prosecute sexual predators of minors is being considered to run alongside the treaty referendum. "I think it would be a mistake to be quite as specific as this because we would end with a referendum that served only a very, very small element of the child protection mechanism itself," Ms Logan told RTÉ radio today. Sinn Féin spokesman on children CaoimhghÃn Ó Caoláin also warned against "decoupling" the issue of unlawful carnal knowledge from the broader issue of child rights. "The proposal to split children's rights and protections into two referenda would mean that only sexual abuse would be dealt with now and everything else would be put on the long finger and possibly indefinitely," said Mr Ó Caoláin, who is a member of the Oireachtas Comittee. He said there were a range of areas in which children were in need of protection from sexual and other forms of abuse such as neglect and cruelty; and foster care, custody and access arrangements. He was also critical that a proposal to split the referendum had emerged while an all-party committee was seeking to achieve consensus. "It seems to have arisen from closed side meetings between the government and other opposition parties." Although politicians are keen to rectify the legal loophole on sex with minors as quickly as possible, there is already some dispute about what form it should take. Fine Gael want the age consent to be set at 17, while Fianna Fáil and Labour want it put at 16. Groups representing children's interests, such as Barnardos and the Children's Rights Alliance, are also concerned about the danger of criminalising minors who have sex with each other. The Irish Times reports this morning that the Children's Rights Alliance, a coalition of 80 non-governmental organisations, believes criminalising minors could contravene European law In its submission to the Oireachtas committee, it said it was not appropriate for society to use criminal justice legislation to deter young people from engaging in consensual sexual behaviour.