John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

There is a good reason for section 5. It is the case that if the legislation were entirely gender neutral then a young girl of 16 and a half years having sex with a boy of 18 years and becoming pregnant would be criminalised under the law. The Government did not want to do that. We have spent decades coming out from that hidden corner of Ireland. We have spent decades trying to ensure unmarried young women were not stigmatised in society. If someone is suggesting to me——

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