The new Oireachtas Committee on Child Protection will have to decide whether a referendum should be held on the issue of statutory rape, committee chairman Peter Power said yesterday in advance of its inaugural meeting on Wednesday.
The decision to set up the Special Joint Committee was taken in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision in the "CC" case and the public outcry over the issue of statutory rape.
The Taoiseach has nominated Limerick East Fianna Fáil TD Mr Power to chair the committee, whose members will include Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and Minister for Children Brian Lenihan.
It is the first time Ministers have been nominated to serve as members of an Oireachtas committee and it indicates the delicate political nature of the issue. The Dáil has mandated the committee to produce a comprehensive report by November 30th.
"There can be few more important issues than the protection of the children of the nation against predatory sexual offenders," Mr Power said. "The recent Supreme Court decision in the CC case and the subsequent High Court release of a child rapist caused consternation throughout the country and had profound implications for our laws in relation to child protection," he added.
Mr Power said that while emergency legislation had been introduced, the Government and Oireachtas were conscious of the wider implications of the Supreme Court decision and have decided to review the law and the Constitution to ensure all laws concerning child protection and sexual offences involving minors stood up to scrutiny.
"One of the key functions of the committee will be to examine the desirability or otherwise of amending the Constitution to deal with the outcome of the CC case and/or to provide a new constitutional right for the protection of children," he said.
"The State has an absolute obligation to ensure that all of our laws and our Constitution are strong enough to protect our children fully. Children, parents and all those charged with the care and protection of children need absolute reassurance that our laws are robust enough to deal decisively with those intent on shattering the lives of young children through sexual abuse and rape," Mr Power said.
He said the committee would draw on wide-ranging expertise to examine the issue. In addition to the two Ministers, the membership would include the Fine Gael and Labour justice spokesmen, Jim O'Keeffe and Brendan Howlin.
"I intend that the committee will begin its work immediately and will carry out a route and branch review of the substantive criminal law relating to sexual offences against children. The issue of the age of consent will also be examined in detail," Mr Power said.
"The outrage sparked by the Supreme Court decision amongst all right-thinking members of society . . . places an enormous onus and responsibility on the Government to ensure absolute safeguard and protections for our children and I am hopeful, together with my committee members, that we will be able to achieve this objective successfully."