Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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135. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if Ireland has ratified the second optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; if not, when the Government plans to do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22818/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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My Department has a co-ordinating role in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and its protocols.

Considerable aspects of compliance with the requirements of the Second Optional Protocol have been addressed under the provisions of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 and the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008.

A further element of preparation for compliance with requirements that will flow from ratification of the Protocol concerns the development of criminal law in the area of sexual offences. In that connection, the Minister for Justice and Equality has published the General Scheme of a new Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014.

I am in correspondence with a number of Cabinet colleagues regarding readiness to fully comply with obligations that would arise in their respective areas of responsibility from the ratification of the Protocol. I anticipate receiving the necessary up-to-date information at an early date, at which time I will be in a position to assess our state of preparedness to ratify the Protocol.