Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I concur with the previous two speakers that this is not the way to hold Committee Stage. Committee Stage is a mechanism with which to tease out problems in legislation. It is useful in spotting loopholes or mistakes made in drafting, which parliamentary draftsmen, the Minister and Members on this side of the House will acknowledge. As I said earlier, it is very difficult to produce legislation which is free from anomaly but we should try to achieve it as far as possible.

It is a pity we do not have enough time with this Bill, because of its emergency nature. At this hour it is difficult to focus fully on the urgency and importance of getting it right. I will not oppose the Bill but urge the Minister to address the other issues that have arisen, because we are only putting sticking plaster on the problems. Given new technologies, such as the Internet, and the sexualisation of children we need legislation to prevent people abusing the greater openness of today's society. Hopefully that work will be done in the coming months so that, by September or October, it is concluded and the all-party agreement that exists in respect of this Bill can ensure we have the best laws possible to deal with sexual offences, which we can be proud of and which take account of future developments as far as possible.

This Bill is not time-sensitive, as was the legislation dealing with risk equalisation. Perhaps we should have spent more time on it today or even allowed a full day later in the week to discuss it properly on Committee Stage, once we had time to reflect and reconsider after Second Stage. There should have been a delay between Committee Stage and Report Stage because that is a vital period in which the Minister and the draftsmen can reconsider the points Members have made. However, that cannot be done tonight because the draftsmen do not have quick answers to the points raised.

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