Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

If the Minister would allow me, this is one of the most critical issues and that is why it was raised by the leader of the Labour Party today. Although I was relatively reassured by the Minister's comments on Second Stage, I am much less reassured now for the following reason. The Minister is now confirming that the general application of the constitutional principle determined last year by the Supreme Court has universal application and all legislation is presumed to capture it.

Is he also saying that under this Bill, the burden will fall on the prosecution to prove that the person soliciting knew that the individual solicited was under age? We should seek to delimit such a provision. While we have to preserve the right to claim a mistake until such time as the Constitution is amended, we could surely require that such a belief is reasonable. Could we insert a reasonableness clause so that proof does not rest with the prosecution to the point of unreason? This is an important issue because the Bill will otherwise fall at that hurdle.

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