Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 23:

In page 13, to delete line 5 and substitute the following:

“(c) a current or former step-parent of the child (‘step-parent’ shall include, for this purpose, a spouse, a civil partner (as defined by section 3 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010) or a cohabitant (as defined by section 172 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010) of the child’s parent),”.

For the purposes of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006, a step-parent is treated as a person in authority. This means he or she is subject to heightened maximum penalties upon conviction of a sexual act with a stepchild. The traditional legal understanding of a step-parent has long been the spouse of a parent.Notably, Murdoch's Dictionary of Irish Lawdefines "stepchild" as "a child of one spouse by a former union". Other legal sources suggest that a marriage is required to make a person a step-parent. For the specific purpose of tax law, however, the child of a civil partner is treated the same as the child of a spouse, but this is a result of a specific amendment to the Finance Acts 2011 and 2012. While the meaning of "step-parent" may well have evolved or evolve over time, it is not clear whether the civil partner or cohabitant of a parent is also a step-parent for the particular purpose that we are discussing.

While a civil partner or cohabitant is likely to be treated as a person in loco parentisand, thus, a person in authority for this purpose, I remain concerned, since any ambiguity in legislation must be read in the favour of the accused. For instance, a civil partner could claim that he or she was not a step-parent and potentially escape liability, in particular if the civil partner is not for some reason in loco parentis. Arguably, he or she should be treated as a step-parent, but the point is unclear and the legislation would benefit from a wide definition of "step-parent" or a clear statement from the Minister of State that it was his intention that a current or former spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of a child's parent was a step-parent and, thus, a person in authority for the purposes of the Bill.