Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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839. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide a timescale for Ireland ratifying the UN Second Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography as it has been 13 years since Ireland signed the Protocol as it is urgently required in view of Ireland's submission of its report on its commitments to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to the UN Committee in the near future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27282/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland has signed but not yet ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the rights of the child on the sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. It is my intention to progress to ratification in due course, once I am satisfied that the State will be able to meet all its obligations therein. I discussed the issue of ratification of this Protocol in a meeting with the UN Special Representative on Violence against Children, which took place on 11th June 2012, during the Special Representative's official visit to Ireland. We agreed that the matter would be prioritised in due course following completion of my Department's work on the Children's Referendum, submission of the State's next report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the setting up of the new Child and Family Agency.

The criminal law elements of the Optional Protocol have largely been implemented by the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 and the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008. Legislative proposals to further protect children against sexual exploitation are at an advanced stage of preparation. These measures will facilitate full compliance with the criminal law provisions of a number of international legal instruments, including the Optional Protocol and an EU directive adopted in December 2011. The Minister for Justice and Equality expects to bring these legislative proposals to Government in the coming months. It is also proposed to put in place the necessary administrative procedures and arrangements to allow for accession and, subject to the advice of the Attorney General's Office, it is proposed to ratify the Optional Protocol as soon as is practicable.