Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

We are dealing not with section 5 but with section 3. I will be delighted to deal with the former in a few moments. I was addressing Senator Norris's amendments to section 3, which have no connection withsection 5.

Senator Norris has tabled amendments seeking to substitute the word "reasonably" for that of "honestly" in the subsections relating to a defence of honest mistake regarding a victim's age. I believe that I outlined to the Senator my fundamental difficulty with this amendment. The subjective mental element is a fundamental feature of a crime where an accused is put on trial for a very serious offence carrying the type of penalty that this offence carries. That subjective element must, therefore, be preserved in the definition of the offence. The Government considered the issue and insisted on the insertion of an objective element.