Margaret Cox (Fianna Fail)

I have put down an amendment to section 5 on this point, although that may not be the right way to deal with it. It is a fact of life that 15, 16 and 17 year olds have consensual sex. A difficulty arises if somebody challenges this behaviour and reports it to the Garda. I may be incorrect on a point of law but if the DPP has no discretion to prosecute a prima facie case against either of the individuals, the girl is protected under section 5 but the young man is not and will suffer from having a criminal record and serving time in jail.

The Minister of State said earlier we must protect all children, irrespective of gender. We have been swayed into concentrating more on young women than on young men but boys must be protected as much as girls. The Minister of State also said that children should not be born out of criminality. If we allow a young man, under the age of 17, to be prosecuted and the girl is not prosecuted, any child of that union would be born out of the criminality of the father rather than the mother.