Results 27,721-27,740 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: The Cabinet.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: Does that include injury time, Sir? On that basis the Government is just setting up the law, on which the public depends for certainty, for further crisis and challenge. That is above and beyond the bizarre and absurd position that girls will be criminally liable for foreplay but not for sex. To put it bluntly, the incoherence behind the current proposals is demonstrated by pointing to three...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: Even more bizarrely, if attempted sex——

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: The Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, should read the Bill himself. This is a fact. I know it is a surprise to him.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: Even more bizarrely, if attempted sex takes place between two 16 year olds, they are both guilty——

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: ——of a serious crime, but if actual sex happens, they are not.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: It appears that girls can only achieve innocence if they perform full sex. I wish to raise another anomaly I have seen in the Bill. If the defendant believes a 14 year old is 15, it is a complete defence to a charge under section 2. Since section 3 is limited to sexual acts with persons over 15, a defendant cannot be charged with an offence under that section. Therefore, if somebody is...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: The Minister should think before he mouths off.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: That is the advice I have given him for the past week.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: I also wish to refer to section 16 of the Criminal Evidence Act 1992. The Minister told the House at the end of last year virtually what he told us this morning. He sat on this proposal for years. Nothing has happened. Apparently, he telephoned the HSE this morning and was told it would come forward with its proposals shortly. On 29 November last year he also informed the House that the HSE...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: It is what the Minister told us yesterday.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: I will need injury time.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: I take it that this is injury time.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: This emergency sitting of the Dáil marks the end of a bleak and depressing ten days for the criminal justice system and for political leadership and authority. To claim that last week's Supreme Court decision came like a bolt from the blue is frankly unbelievable and unacceptable. We have walked similar paths before and were promised that systems had been put in place to ensure that a...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: It is the Government that is putting children in the dock for acts which this day are not criminal but which will be by this evening. It is not illegal today, nor has it been in the history of the State, for a 16 year old boy and girl to engage in consenting sexual acts other than intercourse. This is about to change. By this evening it will be a serious criminal offence that might have these...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: The Bill introduces a confusing anomaly which may undermine the law of incest in that incestuous intercourse under this Bill with a child over 15 years is punishable with ten years, which is less than the protection offered by the law of incest. The Bill is presented as a protected measure but it decriminalises a number of acts with children that are currently offences. For example, if a 60...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: The Minister should listen to the argument and debate the point. He should give us the time to ensure-——

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: The Minister is so knowledgeable about everything.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: One day we can all go home and let the Minister who knows everything and who is not only the authority of the Supreme Court and the law but also the people, to dictate by law.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (2 Jun 2006)

Brendan Howlin: The Minister will defend creating this gap in the law.