Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is very welcome legislation and has been greeted as such by the non-governmental organisations in this area. The Bill addresses many anomalies which exist in our laws relating to sexual offences. In particular, I welcome the provisions dealing with the online sexual exploitation of children. Additionally, provisions to protect children against grooming and online predators are most welcome. Of particular note are the introduction of heavy sanctions for production and possession of images of child sexual abuse.

There are also positive provisions in respect of the age of consent. While the age of consent is to remain at 17 years, the Bill properly contains a modern provision in respect of younger teenage sexual activity. It acknowledges that such teenagers might indeed engage in consensual sexual activity and, importantly, it attempts to provide that teenagers of the same age would not be criminalised for doing so.

The advocacy group, One in Four has indicated that it has an issue with consent not being defined in the legislation. I do not have a fixed view on this matter but I wonder if the Minister is satisfied that existing legislation and case law is sufficient and that no further definition is warranted here. She might perhaps comment on that.

While the major focus of media coverage has been on the welcome criminalisation of the purchase of sex, there are a few other areas I would like to concentrate on. In respect of the disclosure of counselling notes during a trial, I welcome the tightening of procedure contained in the legislation. There has been a belief that the alleged abusers were merely engaged in fishing expeditions in seeking such disclosure, the purpose being to discredit the alleged victim. This legislation is therefore welcome in that proper reasons will now have to be advanced before the court allows any disclosure. Is the Minister satisfied that this is as far as she can go constitutionally? There are some who would advocate a total ban on counselling notes being made available. The Minister might comment on that.

On a somewhat related matter I would like to hear the Minister’s views on a total ban on personal cross-examination of alleged victims by alleged abusers in sexual crimes. While we could not deny counsel for an accused the right to cross-examine there is a stateable case for preventing an accused doing so him or herself. This is the case in England and Wales. Is the Minister legally constrained in that area? It would seem that the accused does not have an absolute right to personally cross-examine. I say that as this legislation provides that an accused may not personally examine a person under 18 years of age in a criminal trial. Would the Minister consider that a complete ban in sexual offence cases would be open to legal challenge?

I welcome the repeal of section 13 of the Criminal Evidence Act 1992 which provided that where evidence has been given by a child through video link neither the judge nor the barrister or solicitor involved in the examination of the witness shall wear a wig or gown. Section 30 of this Bill introduces a similar provision which will be extended to the giving of evidence in all circumstances by children under the age of 18. The requirement not to wear a wig or gown will no longer be limited where a child under 18 gives evidence via video link. I welcome this updating of the law in respect of sexual offences and refer to the Children’s Rights Alliance comments on the publication of the Bill, which it warmly welcomed. It views it as "a critical step towards protecting our children from grooming, exploitation and abuse". It went on to say that the legislation will "combat the exploitation of boys and girls" and that the law will "bring Ireland into line with a growing international trend and send out the message that Ireland is not a soft target for paedophiles, pimps and traffickers".I commend the Minister and her officials for bringing forward this progressive legislation.