Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I also wish to refer to section 16 of the Criminal Evidence Act 1992. The Minister told the House at the end of last year virtually what he told us this morning. He sat on this proposal for years. Nothing has happened. Apparently, he telephoned the HSE this morning and was told it would come forward with its proposals shortly. On 29 November last year he also informed the House that the HSE would come forward with its proposals shortly.

While we do not have video evidence ready, the sort of cross-examination to which the Minister referred will happen. For all these reasons I have the greatest concern about this Bill. In conclusion, because the heart of this Bill is a proposal that I and the Labour Party have advocated from the outset of this crisis to plug a loophole that must be plugged to protect children, we will not obstruct its passage but we would have much preferred to have the blocking of the loophole in place immediately and a quiet time of reflection to involve the Rape Crisis Centre, concerned bodies, the Ombudsman for Children, and much greater consultation in the other matters that will now form a corpus of laws that will affect children and adults for years to come.

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