John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

The founding fathers of this State, through the Sexual Offences Act 1935 dealing with the question of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 17 or a girl under the age of 15, in their wisdom decided that a defence by an accused person to the effect that he honestly believed the girl was older would not stand. That continued to be the position in the intervening decades. It is the case that in 1990 there was a Law Reform Commission report and that in 1998 there was a discussion paper on sexual offences. However, it is also the case that, throughout all that period, not one person sought to suggest that the law should be amended.

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