The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, today welcomed this morning's explanation by the Supreme Court as to why the court granted an appeal by the State against the release of a man (41) who was jailed for raping a 12-year-old girl.
Mr Ahern said he was gglad the court had clarified matters.
However, the main Opposition parties have attacked the Government over its handling of the circumstances surrounding the Mr A case.
Mr A was freed by the High Court last month following the striking down by the Supreme Court of the law under which he was jailed. The Supreme Court ruled on May 23rd that Section 1 (1) of the 1935 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act was unconstitutional in that it did not allow for the defence of mistake.
Labour Party justice spokesman Brendan Howlin today described the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, 2006, which was rushed through the Oireachtas by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell in a bid to plug the loophole created by the Supreme Court ruling as "hastily written and poorly drafted".
Mr Howlin said the Act was a "seriously flawed and totally inadequate response to the issues".
Fine Gael Senator Brian Hayes claimed the Government's "inept and belated response" could allow a similar situation to re-occur.
"The Supreme Court's statements highlight how badly the Government handled the Mr A case and its fall-out," he said.
"The Government wasted valuable time, and when it did eventually take action the response was ill-judged and ill-thought out," he said. "There is no guarantee that this fiasco will not be repeated in some other area of law."
Both Senator Hayes and Mr Howlin said All-Party Oireachtas Committee, which was set up to examine the fall-out from the Mr A case, must meet to recommend new safety mechanisms to protect children.