Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is regrettable that the Minister of State is not taking on board the relevant points made by Senator O'Donovan in his amendments. Amendment No. 45 refers to the "non-consent of sexual activity" which formed the basis of a case recently. The amendment continued:

(f) the complainant was asleep or otherwise unconscious at the time of the relevant act;

(g) the complainant was too affected by alcohol or drugs to freely agree to sexual activity;

(i) the complainant having originally consented to engage in sexual activity expresses by words or conduct a lack of agreement to continue to engage in the activity;

(j) the complainant submits to sexual activity because of the abuse of a position of authority or trust.".

These are very real situations in which people are abused every day. It would add quite appreciably to the Bill to have those definitions included, if one can call them definitions. They would assist juries by quite a lot to reach judgments that assist the victim.