Two groups have provided €1.5 million to a new organisation called Campaign for Children which is set to be a leading voice in campaigning for a Yes vote in the Government’s “children’s rights” referendum.

Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald yesterday promised that the Coalition would hold a stand-alone referendum on the issue later this year. She told the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children that it would be stand-alone “to ensure people clearly understand what it is about”, The Irish Times reports.

The Campaign for Children describes itself as a “public information campaign” and is funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, founded by US billionaire Chuck Feeney, and the One Foundation, co-founded by Ryanair heir Declan Ryan and Deirdre Mortell.

The organisation is preparing to mount a major campaign in favour of changing the Constitution if the wording of the forthcoming referendum is approved by its board.

Campaigners have claimed that the lack of a specific children’s rights clause in the Constitution has hampered efforts to take care of vulnerable young people.

However ,there is likely to be significant opposition if it makes State intervention in families too easy.

The Campaign for Children executive director Bart Storan declined to say how much money exactly had been raised but said campaigning for a referendum would take place only after approval by its board.

He said some of its funds were also being used in areas such as advocacy work in adoption and family support.

The organisation is chaired by former Supreme Court judge Catherine McGuinness. Board members include Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay, ISPCC chief executive Ashley Balbirnie, Fleishman-Hillard PR director Mark Mortell and Tanya Ward, chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance.

Ms Fitzgerald, meanwhile, said a wording was being finalised on a referendum that would be stronger than a version produced by the previous government.

She said she hoped to secure cross-party support for the proposed amendment, and to ensure there was sufficient lead-in time to allow people to understand and debate the issues fully.

“It’s important to give these issues the respect they deserve which is why the Taoiseach and I intend to hold a stand-alone referendum,” Ms Fitzgerald told The Irish Times.

Legislation to accompany aspects of the referendum relating to adoption will be published in advance of the referendum.

Ms Fitzgerald said the Attorney General and senior officials were working on a wording that would stay as close as possible to the principles of a wording produced by the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution in 2010. This group endorsed a wording that sought to:

– Ensure the best interests of the child applies in legal cases affecting them.

– Allow for the adoption of children – as many as 2,000 – originally from marital families who are in long-term foster care.

– Allow the State to intervene in a “proportionate” manner where parents have failed in their responsibilities.

Ms Fitzgerald said concerns had been expressed by the current and former Attorneys General over the consequences of previous versions of the wording, and these issues were being addressed.

Government TDs also welcomed the commitment that the referendum would not be held in tandem with a planned vote on Seanad reform. Chair of the Oireachtas committee on Children, Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer, said the issues were complex and needed to be fully debated.

Ms Fitzgerald said it would be necessary to publish new adoption legislation at the same time as publishing the wording of the referendum, but no date had yet been set for the publication of either.

She said that at the end of last December, 6,160 children were in care. She said neglect was one of the quickest growing areas for referral to a social worker.

People were often reluctant to report a neglect case to the HSE because they felt they were “interfering with the family”, she said, but neglect had a serious developmental effect on children.

The committee was also told that 45 boys aged 16 and 17 were currently in St Patrick’s Institution, which was designed for male offenders aged up to 21 years.