Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I extend congratulations to the Minister and her officials in the Department. Many of the aspects we see in this Bill were raised in the 2006 Law Reform Commission report. I know that the Cabinet gave the Minister approval for this Bill in 2014 and I say "Well done" to all involved. I could not have predicted in 2011 how important and relevant this Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 would be to my work in the Seanad. It seems that throughout my tenure it is where many of the issues I have worked have ended up. I speak specifically about my work on child sexual abuse material, criminalising the purchase of sex in Ireland and third party disclosure of children’s confidential counselling records during criminal trials. My entry point into these issues has consistently been to promote and protect the rights and interests of children who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and damage across these areas. This is an extensive Bill and a genuine effort to reform the law and, where necessary, to introduce new laws to protect children from sexual exploitation, child sexual abuse material and online grooming. While I welcome and support the Bill, there are opportunities to strengthen it in areas such as the issue of consent, which is raised by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. I will provide more detail about this on Committee Stage where there will be adequate time to make a full contribution.

I will now turn to three issues I mentioned. The first is the sexual exploitation of children. The Minister is aware of my commitment to tackling child sexual abuse material on the Internet. While I welcome the introduction of new categories of offences in this Bill, and a bolstering of existing offences, I am disappointed that the decision was taken not to introduce a filtering system against online child sexual abuse material or to do so by statutory instrument. We remain reliant upon the threat of the same as a means to coerce ISPs into self-regulation and on the Garda to develop a response. The UK has this system in place and we should have a similar protection.

I also have concerns about the continued use of the term "child pornography" rather than taking this opportunity to replace it with a more apt and more reflective descriptor of child sexual abuse material, which is suggested by Interpol and Europol. The Minister is aware that I tabled an amendment on this issue under the Children First Bill and I note that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly, agreed. He said, "The term child pornography is outdated and fails to reflect the full horror of the sexual abuse involved." The word "pornography" implies there may be some consent but we are talking about children, there is no consent, it is a crime seeing any such picture of a child. I note that the term "child pornography" is used in existing language and international instruments and will revert to this issue on Committee Stage. I will also return on Committee Stage to concerns I have around a new offence called "sexual extortion".

I fully echo and support what my colleagues, Senators Zappone, Power and Mac Conghail, have said on the purchase of sexual services. As a group we have worked on my interventions in October 2011 and April 2012 focused on the impact of prostitution and trafficking on children and noted that the majority of women in prostitution and trafficked into prostitution enter as children. Once again we cannot even discuss the issue of consent as there is no consent.

I am delighted that the recommendations of Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, special rapporteur in child protection, and my amendment to the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 on the admissibility of sexual assault communications made by children have led to the inclusion in section 33 of this Bill of a disclosure of third party records in criminal trials.I am grateful to the Law Reform Commission for acknowledging my contribution in this area in its report on Disclosure and Discovery in Criminal Cases in 2014 and I will return to this issue on Committee Stage. I fully support the Bill in what it aims to achieve and from what I have heard in the House this evening, any amendments tabled will be to strengthen, bolster and support it. I wish the Bill a speedy passage in this term.