Child Protection – An Insight into the Oireachtas Report

4.12.2006

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Child Protection was established in the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment on May 23^rd 2006; which allowed the use of ignorance as to age as a defence for the offence of statutory rape. The particular case involved a girl of only 13 years old and rightly caused a terrible furore when the accused was acquitted of the crime. Peter Power TD chaired this committee

Deputy Peter Power addressed the Con Colbert Cumann of Ógra Fianna Fáil on this issue last Monday evening December 4^th. Deputy power said it was an honour to be asked to chair this committee and he was interested to hear what members thought of the three main recommendations; of which there were 62.

The first being the recommendation that the age of consent to sexual intercourse be lowered to 16, below which an absolute zone of protection is upheld and sexual activity cannot be consensual. Cathaoirleach Niamh O’Donovan expressed her feeling that 16 was too young and that she was unhappy with the lowering of the age, to which Deputy Power replied that this is a reality that has to be accepted no matter what ideals we may have. He would certainly not like to see the recommendation to encourage all 16 year olds to have sex, but doesn’t want to see those that do be criminalised. There was a lot of debate around this issue and Deputy Power explained that this had been the case in committee session also, but 16 was eventually agreed as the age of consent to be recommended. Treasurer Eamon Quinlan congratulated Deputy Power and the committee for the report which he said was the best that can be done to give clarity and protection

The 2^nd Recommendation concerned access to “soft information” for those wishing to work in environments where they would be in contact with children. This is a safeguard that would protect against another Ian Huntley situation. It would allow prospective employers to check for charges against an individual rather than just convictions, which is the current situation. The most cunning, devious and dangerous rarely get convicted, but a stream of charges would show that they are unsuitable. All were in agreement that this was an excellent recommendation.

In addition to these two recommendations, the committee concluded that individuals in authority (teachers, coaches, parents, school staff etc…) should not be allowed to engage in sexual with any person under the age of 18. The members of the cumann that were in attendance broadly agreed with this and were happy to see such a safeguard in the report.

The Con Colbert Cumann wishes to sincerely thank Deputy Peter Power for his time which is greatly appreciated. Deputy Power joked when leaving that; “I’ll be the one needing protection if I don’t get home soon!!”

Ar Aghaidh le Fianna Fáil