Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have sympathy with the Senator's amendment. The evidence is that a great deal of the sexual abuse of children occurs within the family setting. This has been noted for a long time and was one of the bases on which the Stay Safe programme was introduced in the early 1990s. It is abuse in the most trusted of settings. I do not know what the legislation can do to prevent it. We have always addressed it from the point of view of empowering the child to know when there have been inappropriate approaches and touches, but it also depends on the culture of the family. Any legislative measure that we can put in place to protect the child or punish the offender is welcome but, unfortunately, it is often too late for the child, as the offence has already taken place. This forms part of a wider discussion on the issue.