Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I thank Deputies for their contribution to this debate. I will begin by referring to the contribution of Deputy Peter Power, which was thoughtful and which surveyed recent events in a fair-minded and reasonable way. I agree with him that this area needs to be restated comprehensively. I will ask that the criminal law codification committee takes this as its first task. It is not good enough that our law on sexual crime is scattered over so many statutes that keeping them all in synch poses a significant difficulty. The attempt to find out what is the law and trying to work out exactly how one Act interacts with another Act have become difficult tasks.

Deputy Peter Power has the unique experience of having chaired an all-party committee on sexual offences in recent times. The central theme of that committee was that this process of codification should be done. Even though we are somewhat overhung by the uncertainties in regard to the zone of absolute protection, it seems the criminal law codification process could get going, notwithstanding that this issue has not yet been decided on finally. Bearing in mind there is an all-party consensus to create an absolute zone of protection, the committee should proceed to prepare a draft chapter of a code in this area which would consolidate all sexual offences, both in regard to adults and minors, on the assumption that these Houses and the people will reinstate a zone of absolute protection in the proximate future. That would be a good idea.

It is noteworthy that, as Deputy Power said, the exploitation of young people is a very complex issue and that sexualisation of young people is now also a very complex issue, and very prevalent. I do not know whether we are in the midst of an irreversible tide of sexualisation of young people or whether it can be reversed — it is a matter on which I am not in a position to express a useful opinion. However, while I do not say this critically with regard to anyone, if one runs a newspaper, for example, and has chatlines which are accessible to children, one should not at the same time on earlier pages in the same newspaper be giving out about monsters. To do that would be to burn the candle at both ends.

Section 6 of the 1993 Act, as Deputy Howlin pointed out, had a very chequered career. It did not emerge as the primary defence of children in this area but as a by-product of the reform of the law in regard to prostitution and homosexuality, as set out in the legislation of the former Minister, Mrs. Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, when the Fianna Fáil-Labour Party coalition was in office. Clearly, attitudes have since changed. A summary offence under the Constitution has to be categorised as a minor offence but most people would not consider it morally minor that an approach was made to their child by somebody——

See this speech in context