Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and thank Deputy Corcoran Kennedy for bringing it before the House and allowing this discussion to take place. The Government's delay in making progress on the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill is unacceptable. Both Houses of the Oireachtas have for a number of years been debating Private Members' Bills such as this one only to be told by Ministers time and again that such Bills are unnecessary because a more comprehensive Bill is on its way. We are coming to the end of this Dáil term and there is still no sign of a comprehensive Bill to reform this area of law. If the Government knew there would be a delay like this, it should have accepted Private Members' Bills and enacted them so that, at the very least, some reform would have been legislated for and some adequate protection would have been afforded to citizens.

I welcome Deputy Corcoran Kennedy's Bill. It is an important one and it is comprehensive and logical. It is in keeping with international best practice and Sinn Féin will support its passage to Committee Stage. It is a shame that the general scheme of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill that was published by the Minister for Justice and Equality late last year has not seen progress since. There is a pressing need to address all the law in this area.

Sexual violence is probably the most pervasive crime in Irish society, yet it remains under-reported, under-investigated and under-prosecuted. Conviction rates are low and criminal sentences rarely reflect the devastating impact of the crime on its victims.

For their part, policy-makers and policing services consistently fail to afford this crime the focus or resources it deserves. Sinn Féin believes that safeguarding the well-being of children and young people to protect them from physical, sexual and emotional harm and neglect should be a priority in law and policy. In all matters concerning the child, the welfare and protection of the young person must be paramount. Every child has the right to be protected from all forms of abuse.

Sinn Féin acknowledges that most child victims are abused by members of their families, but there are a growing number of offenders who are using the Internet and social media. I agree with the statement made by the Deputy in the explanatory memorandum to the effect that in this time of information and communications technology it is possible for non-contact sexual abuse to occur even without a face-to-face meeting. In that context, measures such as sex offender registers and vetting in isolation will not stop abhorrent crimes of sexual abuse occurring. Deputy Corcoran Kennedy's initiative is to be welcomed as an additional measure to give reassurance to parents, guardians and so forth. The widening of the offence is a common-sense way to combat the growing rate of such abhorrent offences.

It is indeed necessary to further strengthen the child protection framework of criminal law by removing the offence of meeting a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation and replacing it with an offence of grooming a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The law must recognise that sexual offences against children are emerging from the building of relationships with children. The dangers posed by the Internet in this regard must be tackled. Education on online safety must continue.

My colleague, Sinn Féin's justice spokesperson Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, has raised the challenges faced by the computer crime investigation unit of An Garda Síochána previously. There have been numerous reports of resource shortages and apparently a poor level of modern technology to keep up with the changes. This has led to backlogs in the reporting and monitoring systems. There is significant concern in child protection sectors that anyone allegedly looking at level five child pornography could get off because of resource issues. We need urgent assurance from the Minister that the technology, which apparently is antiquated, will be brought up to the required specification as soon as possible and that the necessary personnel resources will be deployed. We cannot have a situation in which persons inclined to view the most heinous type of child pornography have a sense that they might get off due to resource or technology issues.

In this regard, it is important to address an issue that must be dealt with in the Minister's Bill when it is finally brought forward. It must be clear that only An Garda Síochána can take part in sting operations against paedophiles. I do not want to see a situation in which vigilantes target paedophiles of their own accord through sting operations online. I am rather concerned that this would be done by people who are not trained, or delegated by society, to do it. The focus for the Minister, though, must be to give An Garda Síochána the information technology equipment and human resources that it needs. We have to give the Garda every angle the force needs, and I hope this will be teased through in the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality.

Sinn Féin is calling for greater cross-Border co-operation between the Six Counties Assembly and the Twenty-six County Government, as well as the Garda Síochána and the PSNI, in dealing with predatory sex offenders. We are seeking greater cross-jurisdictional co-operation throughout the European Union and on the part of agencies such as Interpol in this regard. Furthermore, Sinn Féin is seeking the establishment of an all-Ireland policy on sex offenders - especially those who offend against children - to ensure congruence in sentencing and monitoring in order that neither jurisdiction will offer a safe haven for such individuals to escape justice or cause further suffering. We call for all-Ireland standards and protocols on the treatment of sex offenders and for the introduction of an effective all-Ireland register of sex offenders. The latter should include an in-built effectiveness review every five years.

I welcome the fact that Deputy Corcoran Kennedy has submitted a Bill to deal with this issue. The Government should have sought to introduce the criminal law (sexual offences) Bill far more quickly, and I hope that the debate in the House today will help in moving the Government Bill along. Sinn Féin will support this Bill to Committee Stage. This Bill deals with a pressing and dangerous issue that must be acted upon for the safety of children in this State.

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