Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

This is a technical amendment to reflect the fact that the offences against children which are listed in Schedule 1 differ to a certain extent to the offences listed in Schedule 2 and which relate to vulnerable persons. This answers Senator Bradford's question. There are two reasons for the differences in the Schedules. First, a number of the offences in Schedule 1 are children-specific offences and I think Senator Bradford anticipated this particular one. Second, there are other offences contained in Schedule 1 that are not in Schedule 2, such as murder and manslaughter.

The offence of withholding information under the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 applies to serious offences, excluding sexual offences. Consequently, the offences relating to murder and manslaughter of any adult, including a vulnerable adult, are covered by sections 8 and 9 of the 1998 Act.