Derek McDowell (Labour)

It is, but that has been changed by provisions of the Children Act which were never commenced.

Part 14 provides for the establishment of the criminal law codification advisory committee. These provisions were introduced into the Bill by way of Committee Stage amendments in the Dáil. Senators may recall that the programme for Government included a commitment to codify all substantive criminal law into a single crimes Act. As a first stage in meeting that commitment, I established an expert group on the codification of the criminal law in January 2003. The report of the expert group, which is entitled Codifying the Criminal Law, was published in November 2004. In its report the expert group outlined the overall structure and style of a criminal code and recommended that codification be undertaken on a phased basis, using the various tools of restatement, consolidation and law reform in developing and maintaining the code.

Among the recommendations of the expert group was a recommendation that a new statutory committee be established to oversee the codification project. This was to emphasise the need for a long-term departmental commitment to the codification project. The Government accepted this recommendation and I decided to make provision in this Bill for the establishment of the new committee which is to be called the criminal law codification advisory committee. Part 14 sets out the details as they relate to the committee's functions, membership, conditions of office, meetings, programme of work, funding and its annual reports. I am currently giving consideration to the question of the membership of the advisory committee which, in keeping with the recommendations of the expert group will be drawn from key centres of criminal law expertise within the legal community.

Part 15 contains sections 176 to 196, inclusive. It introduces several miscellaneous changes, many of which are of a technical nature. I will mention four of the most significant ones. Members will have a full guide to them in the memorandum which I have circulated. Section 176, on the reckless endangerment of children, arises from a recommendation in the Ferns Report and I was pleased to accept the Labour Party's proposal when it was tabled on Committee Stage in the Dáil. I know this House shares my conviction that every possible step must be taken to ensure the type of abuse documented in the Ferns Report is never repeated and I believe this new provision makes a significant contribution to ensuring we have a legal framework to protect children at risk. The new section provides that where a person in authority, intentionally or recklessly, fails to take steps to protect a child from harm or abuse, that person is guilty of an offence. The offence carries a penalty of up to ten years imprisonment. People who know that a child is being abused and are in a position to do something about it now have a direct legal duty to intervene to save the child. One cannot turn one's eyes away and say that it is somebody else's business or that it is too embarrassing to deal with.

Section 180 addresses a difficulty arising from the Supreme Court judgment in the Dylan Creaven case. The court held that a District Court judge could not exercise his or her jurisdiction to issue a search warrant while he or she was physically outside his or her district. Under the new provision, a District Court judge may exercise his or her jurisdiction to issue a search warrant regardless of whether he or she is outside the district for which he or she is responsible under the law.

Section 184 amends the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 by introducing a system of fixed charges for certain public order offences. Under the new provision, a garda may issue a notice to a person in respect of two offences under the 1994 Act, disorderly conduct in a public place and being intoxicated in a public place. The notice will specify the details of the offence and will indicate that if the charge is paid within a specified time, no further proceedings will arise. In particular, there will be no court proceedings. This new option will allow greater flexibility to gardaí in dealing with public order offences. They can ask an offender for his or her name and address. He or she will get a letter within a short period stating that there will be no proceedings if the penalty prescribed in the notice is paid. If not, he or she can have a court hearing. It is one way to allow the Garda to get on with enforcing the law and to ensure that the public order Act works without knowing in all cases that every infringement of the law ends up in a court hearing, which is so consuming of time and resources. It will also free up court time. A person who pays the charge does not acquire a conviction or a criminal record. However, persons who wish to contest the charge may do so by allowing the matter to go to court. I believe this is a useful innovation.

Finally, I want to mention section 185. It extends the provisions in section 19 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 to protect those, such a firemen and ambulance crews, engaged in providing emergency services and those working in the accident and emergency departments of hospitals. New offences of assaulting or impeding such staff are created. The offence of assault carries a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment. I am satisfied this measure will gain widespread support as it aims to protect those on whom we rely most when our need is greatest. Recently we have seen people who have been badly maimed in these attacks. Those, of course, are much more serious offences and carry sentences of up to life imprisonment for disfiguring a person. Two unfortunate firemen have recently been attacked. Any assault on these emergency service workers who are working for the safety of the community, is now a serious offence and carries a seven-year penalty. Anybody who wants to behave in this loutish and cowardly way should now know that the Oireachtas is putting into law protective measures to deal with this issue.

To conclude, this large and complex Bill is a reflection of the priority that both the Government and I attach to the fight against crime. It amends and updates procedures in several areas. It is not the last word on the matter. We are already preparing yet another Bill in the Department, the criminal law (miscellaneous provisions) Bill. If anybody has any bright ideas that he or she wants to put forward for consideration, another train is due to leave the station in the autumn.

This Bill will amend and update procedures in several areas. It will provide the law enforcement agencies with up-to-date and effective powers. I am confident that the measures in the Bill are quite balanced and reasonable and will meet with general public support. It is with some considerable pleasure that I commend the Bill to the House.