Maurice Hayes (Independent)

I do not wish to labour a point I made earlier regarding subsection (4) but can the rules of court make it clear that a person was a member of the family or a close neighbour of the victim who, therefore, knew the age of the child and could not claim not to know? This would obviate the need to bring the child into court for cross-examination.

We know that this legislation cannot be applied retrospectively. A number of people have been charged under the old legislation and there is some suggestion that cases are pending. One would hope that the defendants in those cases would be charged under the alternative charges that the Minister has said are available.