Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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9. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her response to the year-on-year increase in sexual offences; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3020/16]

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister comment on the year-on-year increase in sexual offences? There has been much high-profile reportage of sexual offences which occur throughout the country and in the capital. Will the Minister comment on this?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I observe that the recorded crime statistics published by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, for quarter 3 of 2015 show some encouraging trends across a number of crime categories. Everyone in the House will welcome the latest official figures which show a notable decrease of 47.4% in the number of murders recorded as well as reductions in other important crime categories such as robbery and weapons offences, which went down 9.1% and 7.3%, respectively. I wish to put this in context.

On the very important area of sexual offences which the Deputy raised, the CSO figures show 2,262 such offences were recorded in the 12-month period, which represents a 14.1% increase compared with the previous 12 months. As with many offence categories, we see considerable variations in crime statistics over years. For example, the highest number of sexual offences in this decade was in 2010, when the number was 2,366, but it is widely accepted there are particularly long-standing factors associated with the reporting of sexual offences. As a consequence, an increase of this nature may reflect, and I am sure the Deputy will accept this, greater willingness on the part of victims to report this type of crime as much or more than any underlying increase in victimisation. It is very important to make the point we live in a society where, one hopes, women and men are more likely to report this crime, get the support they need and ensure the perpetrator is brought to justice. This is one element.

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill is very wide-ranging legislation which will extend the categories of criminal activity in this area to ensure more people are brought before the courts. I do not say what I have said in any way to underestimate the seriousness of this issue and how on guard we need to be. I published the second national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence last week which has many actions which must be implemented. We must do everything we can to work with the victims of crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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The 14.1% increase in sexual offences is truly concerning. I am not pre-empting the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill, which will come before the Dáil this week and which Fianna Fáil will support, but will the Bill finish its passage through the Oireachtas prior to the Dáil being dissolved, which we expect to happen next week? We should work collectively to try to achieve this. We are concerned about the removal of some provisions contained in the Bill to protect victims. These are on the supervision and monitoring of sex offenders after their release from prison. Why were these provisions removed from the Bill? Does the Minister accept there are major gaps in the protection of victims of sexual assault because there is an absence of a definition of consent in the Bill? Other jurisdictions, such as Canada and the UK, have a definition of consent. Will the Minister comment on this?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I would like to see the sexual offences legislation enacted. It has arrived to us rather late from the Seanad. The Deputy could propose cross-party agreement on the floor of the House. It would mean there would not be time for amendments from the Opposition if all Stages were taken tomorrow. There would need to be cross-party agreement on this. If it is the wish of the Opposition, I have no difficulty doing it, and I would certainly like to see the legislation enacted.

There are various views on consent. We have strong common law definitions. I have met people who have done detailed research on this who have strongly suggested it would be more protective to include it and we are examining it. We were planning separate legislation to deal with the points the Deputy made on the provisions of the Bill, but the new sexual offences legislation includes a new harassment order, which will be very helpful for victims of crime.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy McEntee is not present so Deputy Boyd Barrett has the next question.