Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I will address that point if I get a minute. Will Deputies allow me to answer Deputy Kenny's question?

We must deal with the issue and we will introduce legislation in this area promptly. We will try to have the legislation by the weekend, if we can. Someone outside the House asked me about this matter today. If we can do that, if the Cabinet sub-committees work through the weekend and if we have the legislation ready, we will bring back the House next week. This is an important issue and we have no problem with dealing with it next week.

The Tánaiste, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Attorney General and everybody else are committed to trying to do this. However, there are complexities. It is not simple. I am not a trained lawyer but I have listened to many of the legal points in recent days. We will introduce legislation in this area, but it will not deal with the current cases. In the meantime, existing laws will be enforced.

The two main issues with which we must try to deal are to ensure the laws are not discriminatory on grounds of gender — the 1930s Act dealt with boys — and to ensure they provide the defences required by the Supreme Court decision if they are to sustain their constitutional validity. These are the two crucial issues with which we must deal in a way that satisfies the judgment.

There are other offences in the criminal code that I did not mention during the exchange a few minutes ago, namely, false imprisonment, harassment and so forth. A broad range of criminal offences are unaffected by the Supreme Court decision. We are determined that the law will be enforced against those who engage in any kind of predatory sexual abuse of young people. The full resources of the State will be employed in ensuring that these laws are vigorously enforced.

We will quickly introduce a new law that will deal with the issues pointed out by the Supreme Court's decision. This does not cover the other cases because they involve people who have been convicted. There is a difference in law between those who are convicted and those who are fighting a case about a conviction. We must deal with these issues. The governor will make an appeal to the Supreme Court on the Article 40.1 case today. All the other laws on sexual assault and aggravated sexual offences are in place.

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