Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I will be happy to do that although I know the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, is really committed in this area. He is very anxious to have the matter dealt with as quickly as possible. We all know those who are likely to abuse children have a habit of infiltrating places where children congregate, including swimming clubs and sports clubs. There were some very high-profile examples in recent years.

With regard to the legislation on soft information, we are at present restricted under law in terms of prosecutions and convictions. It is often extremely difficult to secure prosecutions and convictions in this area. Having legislation on soft information will be invaluable to protecting children and vulnerable adults.

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