Opposition reactionFine Gael broadly welcomed the Government's Bill on statutory rape but the Labour Party has criticised it and will be seeking substantial amendments in today's debate.
Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe welcomed the decision by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to drop his proposal to lower the age of consent for girls. However, he expressed concerns at the Bill's failure to implement gender neutrality in all areas. "Fine Gael does have some concerns regarding Section 5 of the Bill which includes a provision which is not gender-neutral. This is an issue that will require further consideration by the party."
Labour justice spokesman Brendan Howlin said his party had argued consistently for a short Bill to close off the specific loophole in the law identified by the Supreme Court while leaving broader issues, such as the age of consent, to a later date.
"While the Bill will undoubtedly close off the loophole, as drafted it raises serious concerns," said Mr Howlin.
He said that among the principal concerns were that the Bill would criminalise both parties to a sexual act if both are underage. "But, by Section 5, a girl under 17 would not be guilty of an offence, no matter what the age of the other party, so long as the sexual act in question was an act or an attempted act of full sexual intercourse.
"The thinking behind this provision is . . . that underage mothers should not be criminalised in the public mind. This may be well-intentioned but it is illogical and anomalous. And the discrimination against boys - in what was promised to be a gender-neutral Bill - is quite possibly unconstitutional," said Mr Howlin.
He added that the Bill treated with the same degree of seriousness sexual activity between young persons of the same age as it does such activity when engaged in by a much older person with a much younger one.
"We object to the absurd status proposed for young girls (but not boys) so long as they engage only in sexual intercourse and no other sexual activity," he said.
"We also object to the notion that two young persons who are each 16½ years old could find themselves with criminal records, facing a sentence of five years' imprisonment each and then registration as sex offenders for a consensual sexual act. We will be proposing appropriate amendments to deal with these two issues," said Mr Howlin.
The Green Party called on the Minister to refer his draft legislation to the Ombudsman for Children for her comments.
Green Party Justice spokesman Ciarán Cuffe said that, given the rushed nature of the legislation, it might be wise to incorporate a "sunset clause" so that the Oireachtas could revisit the issue within two years.