Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

We can expect that this subsection will be relied upon as a defence. Therefore, it will be tested severely. The Minister of State explained this issue in a very clear fashion earlier, but I would like him to comment on the last sentence, which states "The court will have regard to the presence or absence of reasonable grounds for the defendant so believing, and all other relevant circumstances."

We must now legislate for this due to the Supreme Court decision. Even though it was felt over the years it would be unwise to do so, it must be monitored very closely in its operation. If it contains a lacuna that makes the prosecution of such cases less likely, we should not be shy about considering a constitutional referendum. There is a strong belief among the public that innocent people should not be defiled while the perpetrators are cleared due to technical loopholes in the Bill.