Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Section 2(4) deals with the section to which the Supreme Court refers, namely, the right of the defendant to state that he believed that the person was not of a certain age. The Mr. A case dealt with a 12 year old girl and the accused's defence team never suggested that he did not know the girl's age. There are six similar cases in which the guilty party is currently serving time in prison.

Has the Government a view on whether the ramification of today's Supreme Court decision will affect those other cases? The convicted persons might use this section to attempt to have their convictions quashed. It is early days and I appreciate how early this judgment was delivered, but there are six other cases and public elucidation of this matter is important in establishing whether or not a sufficient case could be made by those individuals.