Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007. Before speaking on the substantive Bill I wish to make a number of preliminary comments.

I do not believe there is such a thing as a "minor" offence, as has been suggested, when it comes to the sexual abuse of children. During the deliberations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Child Protection it was clear that the physical act of statutory rape or sexual abuse is almost always preceded by a period, sometimes a long period, of sexual grooming. While no physical act may take place, this has the potential to inflict life-long psychological damage on the child. The sexual abuse of a child is a depraved act. The preparation, solicitation and importuning of a child is equally depraved. It shows a level of deviousness and planning and demonstrates real malice aforethought. For this reason I am pleased the proposed legislation provides that the offence of solicitation and importuning will not be just a summary but also an indictable offence.

It is clear from events in the past twelve months, from the legislation that has been brought forward and from the deliberations of the joint committee, that the time has come for a complete restatement of the law relating to sexual offences against children and child protection in general in a new statute along the lines proposed by the UK legislation. A criminal law codification committee is currently working on this subject.

It is time to consider the increasing sexualisation of children which makes them sexual objects and increases the likelihood of predation. We must look at the causes of the increased levels of predation in society. There is something fundamentally wrong in society when a 14-year old boy accesses sexually explicit websites about gay sex. This is particularly disturbing and it raises questions more fundamental than the legislation which the House is debating tonight. The excellent journalism in the report by Una Mullally and Mick McCaffrey in The Sunday Tribune article exposed something terribly sad about our society. This is a society in which children, instead of reading "Roy of the Rovers" or Enid Blyton books or going out to play football with their friends in a safe and secure environment are instead at 14 years of age accessing gay sex sites.

This is a terrible commentary on society not just in Ireland but across the globe. As a global society we have presided over the increasingly early sexualisation of our young people so that they cannot enjoy the innocence of childhood in a carefree and pressure-free world. There is hardly a parent in the country who does not lament the early sexualisation of their children through television, magazines, the Internet, mobile phones, advertising, marketing and — increasingly and in a sinister development — through toys for very young children.

Today's pop culture, media and information society have made sexuality so pervasive and ubiquitous that it encourages young children and particularly young girls to see themselves as mere sexual objects without dignity. This is the society we have created and the sort of mess into which we have got ourselves. It has created and encouraged the type of offences for which we must now legislate. We must examine the society we have created. I recognise it may be difficult, if not impossible, to legislate in this area but surely those in authority, people in the media, people who control what our children read and see and what toys they play with, need to examine the effect which their publications are having on our young people. Is it right or proper that, in the pursuit of sales and profit, some of our newspapers openly advertise gay sex chat lines or any type of sex chat lines which are easily accessible and available to children? Is it not possible to exercise some moral judgment and to decide that this information will not be made freely available to 14-year-old children which inevitably encourages them to access sites such as Gaydar.ie, the subject of much comment in recent times?

I know that I am expressing a deep frustration felt by parents throughout our country, the same parents who protested outside the gates of Leinster House nine months ago about the lowering of standards of child protection as a result of the Supreme Court decision in the CC case. This case prompted the legislation which gave rise to the anomaly we are correcting today. The CC case also gave rise to the establishment of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Child Protection which spent six months examining the issue of child protection and sexual offences in general. It was clear from the committee's deliberations that a full restatement of our law on child protection and sexual offences against children was needed. This was the core and first recommendation in the committee's report. I invite the Minister to make a commitment to this recommendation in his reply. The case for full restatement of our child protection could not be clearer.

Some of the issues which need to be addressed go beyond the technical correction being introduced tonight. There must be a full restatement of the law in order to keep pace with the increasing levels of predation and the sophisticated and subtle means in which sexual predation against children is now carried out. It is clear that the sentences are not severe enough and neither are they being imposed by the courts which increasingly take the side of the criminal and the predator. The scales of justice are tilted in favour of the accused rather than the child victim or the victim of general crime and they need to be recalibrated.

The committee has identified a clear need for a new offence of child sexual abuse and the need for training and education of gardaí and others in child psychology. The entire body of rules of evidence needs to be reformed with regard to the cross-examination of child witnesses, the giving of evidence behind a screen, video-link evidence, the videoing of witness statements from children. The law relating to sexual offenders and the internationalisation of sexual predation against young children also needs to be considered and updated on a regular basis.

Two further major issues also need to be addressed. The vetting of adults who have unsupervised or limited access to children needs to be fully addressed. The joint committee's report contains numerous and helpful suggestions in this area. Second, legislation is required to govern the area of soft information. I welcome the proposed referendum which would give the Oireachtas constitutional authority to legislate in this area. A full and comprehensive statutory scheme needs to be formulated.

The proposed legislation will close off the anomaly created by the 2006 Act. While it is important to have these offences reinstated and anomalies corrected, despite adverse media comment, I have no doubt there were other offences, including common law offences of aiding, abetting, counselling, procurement and incitement, which could have been used to deal with recent offences highlighted in the media.

I have a concern with regard to section 2(3)(b) which provides that a person guilty of an offence under this Act will be liable on conviction to a prison sentence of less than five years. This is far too short a time. The Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998, which makes the distribution of child pornography illegal, carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. I see very little difference between both offences. Solicitation is connected to grooming of young children by groups of men. The act of planning and preparation and solicitation can be just as sinister and depraved as the offence itself. If somebody has been conclusively proven to be planning, preparing, soliciting, importuning and grooming children for the most depraved acts, are we seriously suggesting that, with good behaviour, they should be let out on the streets after four years? It is regrettable that the depravity to which some individuals are prepared to stoop is only matched by their imagination and a sentence of less than five years is surely not sufficient in this area.

While it may be a discussion for another day I am deeply concerned that the courts are not handing down more severe sentences in the area of sexual abuse in general. I have raised this point in the House before. A premeditated and violent rape or sexual act, be it against an adult woman or a child, should carry a minimum sentence of 15 years without remission. The sort of sentences being handed down for premeditated rape, which are of eight, nine and ten years, fall far short of the level of protection for our children and adult women which the courts ought to be providing. I am reflecting a view which I believe is held strongly by people, namely, that the short, increasingly lenient sentences which the courts are handing down, particularly in rape cases, is a matter that needs to be addressed. I invite the Minister, who has not been shy in pointing out to the Judiciary where it is falling down in this area, to again take up this important matter. It sends out certain messages to society generally that the abuse of our children and women by sexual predators is not being dealt with in the most severe way by the courts and the Judiciary.

I commend the Bill to the House.

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