Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Amendment No. 14 adds the offence under the Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Act 2012 to the list of offences in Schedule 1. These offences are not being added to Schedule 2, as withholding information in relation to those offences against a vulnerable adult is already an offence under the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998.

In the context of this amendment, I wish to address an oversight in the recently enacted Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Act 2012. The commencement provision contained in section 16 of that Act provides that "This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or provisions." However, it fails to clarify which Minister. The reference to the Minister should be to the Minister for Health. We are making this amendment in this legislation.

Amendment No. 16 is a consequential amendment to amendment No. 11, ensuring that the Long Title of this Bill is also providing for the amendment to the Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) 2012 Act. Of course the legislation relating to female genital mutilation was only published in or about the same time as this Bill and it is of particular importance that it is included within the offences that apply in the schedule that I mentioned.