Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators for their comments. When debating this Bill, we all are united in our attempts to tackle this most heinous of crimes. The Senator refers to explicit material. There is a deliberate attempt among commercial enterprises to sexualise young people and children, to shorten their childhood and to make them aware of their sexual power above any other power. It is quite disturbing. It is something that must be addressed because it is completely disempowering and is warping the young minds of boys and girls as early as possibly for commercial benefit in the "legitimate" commercial and corporate sphere. This is something we may be able to return to between now and Report Stage because I am taken by the comments that have been made. I will give the technical response but maybe this is something we can work on.

The effect of these amendments would be to substitute the term "child sexual abuse material" for "child pornography" throughout this Bill and other Acts in which it appears. As the Senator will be aware, the language used in the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 and in this Bill reflects that contained in the EU directive which this Bill, among other matters, is giving effect to as well as the Council of Europe Convention on Child Sexual Exploitation. It is also a term used in other EU instruments, including the Council decision to establish Europol. These amendments are proposed on the basis that the term "child sexual abuse material" more accurately reflects the horrific abuse involved and avoids the idea of some form of consent which may be implicit in the term "pornography".

In terms of the wording of the amendments put forward, there is a technical difficulty, which means I would, in any event, be unable to accept them. The term "child pornography" appears in the Statute Book outside of the 1998 Act and any general amendment to that term throughout the Statute Book should be carefully done. I am advised that a general amending provision, as proposed by the Senator in amendment No. 25, would not suffice. Rather each provision in the Statute Book containing the term which it is proposed to amend should be individually identified. While it is not unusual to amend one form of words with another, it is done through individual identification of each instance. This is an important safeguard, particularly where the provisions relate to the criminal law.

The amendments proposed also raise other technical difficulties, such as the effect on the Short Title of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998. I am advised it is not appropriate to amend the Short Title to an existing Act by an amendment in subsequent legislation. The Act should be substituted and repealed.

For these reasons, I am unable to accept the amendment on this occasion. The Minister would, however, fully support including the Senator's proposal in any future review of child pornography legislation. It is a technical reason. Perhaps we could look again to see if we can overcome this technical matter because the language the Senator has proposed is stronger and most likely to be more appropriate.