Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

It is the Government that is putting children in the dock for acts which this day are not criminal but which will be by this evening. It is not illegal today, nor has it been in the history of the State, for a 16 year old boy and girl to engage in consenting sexual acts other than intercourse. This is about to change. By this evening it will be a serious criminal offence that might have these 16 year olds facing five years in jail and being placed on the sexual offenders register. It is no use for the Minister to tell the House the DPP will not prosecute. As legislators we make law, we do not tell the prosecution authorities to ignore it.

The Bill is not gender neutral and fails to correct all existing gender differences in the law, despite this being the golden rule that the Minister applied to the Opposition last week. From his lofty perch, the Minister said our Bill was unconstitutional because it sought to maintain the gender differences in the 1935 Act. Under the Punishment of Incest Act 1908 there is a heavier penalty for incest with girls than boys. The Bill does not address that.

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