Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware that there is a range of robust legislative provisions in place for dealing with criminal assaults generally. The law in relation to assault is not defined by age. The general law relating to assault is contained in the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 which deals comprehensively with a wide range of assault provisions, the more serious of which carry heavy penalties, as the Deputy will be aware. That Act provides for penalties of up to five years in prison for an offence of assault causing harm and for a penalty of life imprisonment for an offence of assault causing serious harm.

While the main area of law which deals with assault is the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act, section 18 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 created an offence of aggravated assault with intent to cause bodily harm or to commit an indictable offence. A person convicted of this offence could face a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine or a term of imprisonment of up to five years or both.

The general approach in Irish law is for the Oireachtas to set a maximum sentence in statute and to leave the precise sentence in any case to the discretion of the sitting judge who can have regard to the relevant principles and the circumstances of each individual case, including such factors as the age and vulnerability of the victim and the seriousness of the offence. An Act of the Oireachtas which arbitrarily required that an assault on a person in one age category be treated differently from an assault on a person in another age category could fall foul of the constitutional requirement to treat all citizens equally.

I advise the Deputy that the legislation in this area is kept under constant review by my Department in collaboration with An Garda Síochána. However, if he wishes to make specific proposals, I will be happy to examine them in the context of what he has just said.

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