Labour seeks extra time for debate on sexual offences bill
Issued : Tuesday 6 March, 2007
I have just this morning received a copy of the Criminal Law (Sexual
Offences) (Amendment) Bill, 2007, the legislation promised by the government to
deal with the legal loophole identified by the Labour Party which meant that, as
result of flawed legislation introduced last year by Minister McDowell which
abolished the offence of soliciting a child for sexual purposes.
In fact Minister McDowell's Bill goes beyond our suggestion of a simple measure to deal with the loophole we identified and deal with a number of related areas in regard to sexual offences.
A Bill like this which seems to amend previous acts which were, in turn, amended by subsequent statues, is inevitably complex and it is essential that the Dail be given adequate time to consider its provisions, if we are not to repeat mistakes made in the past when the government rushed legislation through the House.
On a preliminary reading of the Bill, there are a number of issues that arise, including whether the measure proposed fully complies with the constitution, having regard to the decision of the Supreme Court last year.
In this regard, the government's proposal to limit debate on the Bill to two hours, including just 30 minutes for the Committee Stage which requires line by line examination of its provisions, is simply inadequate.
I have asked our Chief Whip, Emmet Stagg TD, to contact the Government Whip to seek an extension of the time allocated for this important Bill to allow it go get the careful consideration the subject matter deserves.
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