Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming here. This is an extremely important issue and I welcome this amendment Bill coming before the House. It is a matter that needs to be rectified and I am glad the process is starting today. I commend Senator McDowell, who brought this Bill before the House, and I want to acknowledge the work, as he did, that he and my colleague, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, have done on the matter since the anomaly came to light. I also must mention a similar Bill that Deputy Jim O'Callaghan laid before the Dáil recently.

This Bill is amending section 252 of the Children Act 2001. The section provides that in any proceedings that involve a crime committed against a child, a child cannot be identified after proceedings have commenced. The legislation makes complete sense if a child has been subject to sexual abuse or has been assaulted. Quite rightly, a child's privacy and the protection of same are at the forefront of all of our minds as it would undoubtedly add tremendously to the trauma of that child if his or her details were to be publicised in the newspapers or the media. It would add to the trauma of the attack already inflicted upon the child.

However, as many have stated, it was not foreseen or wished that the provision would apply in respect of a child who has been killed. This was never the situation before the Court of Appeal ruling last year. The ruling meant that a child killed by someone else cannot be identified once that person is charged and the person accused of killing the child cannot be identified if doing so would also identify the child. The judgment has led to an unusual situation whereby deceased child victims can be named up to the point at which a person is charged, at which point his or her name can no longer be reported. Questions have also been raised on whether the judgment prevents a person, who was a victim of an offence as a child and who also seeks to waive his or her anonymity as an adult, from doing so. The Court of Appeal judgment has been criticised. It has brought a lot of hurt to the families of the victims who rightly feel aggrieved that they are unable to name their deceased children publicly as a result of it.

The consequences of the ruling have resulted in significant harm and damage. It is a significant issue of confusion for the public. People are informed of the name of the child after the child has been killed, which is correct because the murder of a child is a major issue in our society. Individuals are informed, the public is informed and the child is named. However, once proceedings are commenced, the media cannot identify the name of that child. This leads to absurd situations in which a child would still have been named in the media for a period of days and once the individual is charged in respect of a child's death, again the child cannot be named. This is the reason the legislation needs to be changed.

The Bill respects the requirement for a balance between protecting the public and the victims. The protection of child victims may sometimes require anonymity for the perpetrator in offences such as female genital mutilation, sexual assault, serious non-fatal injury and incest cases. The judgment has led to an unusual situation and questions have been raised on other issues. These questions and many more, as Senator McDowell has noted, require the careful consideration of the Department in its approach to this amendment Bill. The Department must re-examine the unforeseen circumstances that may arise due to the changing of section 252. I am glad this will be rectified for the families who, after the passage of this Bill, will be able to name their children who tragically lost their lives.I look forward to seeing the Bill in its final form in the House.