McDowell forced to alter original legal proposals

How the deal was doneMinister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell has drawn back from one of his original proposals in legislation to go before the Oireachtas today to deal with the outcome of last week's Supreme Court rape judgment.

On Tuesday, the Minister insisted that he wanted to ensure any replacement to legislation struck down by the Supreme Court would treat 15 and 16-year-old boys and girls equally.

However, the new Sexual Offence (Amendment) Bill will leave such boys open to a five-year sentence if they have sex with a girl of similar age, but girls will not be open to a similar charge.

The Minister has had two days of consultations with Opposition Justice spokesmen, though many of them are annoyed that he repeatedly claimed consensus existed when it did not.

On Wednesday, the Minister met Labour's Brendan Howlin, Fine Gael's Jim O'Keeffe, the Green Party's Ciarán Cuffe, Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh and a number of their advisers, though he brought no legislation.

Instead he posed questions, including one asking if they would accept a gender-neutral law that would make it unlawful for anyone to engage, or attempt to engage in a sexual offence with an under-15-year-old, punishable by a life sentence.

Furthermore, he asked if they would accept replacing a section of the controversial 1935 Act that covers sex with someone aged 15, or 16, rather than with a child that is younger, punishable by a five-year sentence. The Minister also asked if they would accept stiffer 10-year penalties for offences by "a figure of authority" - such as a relative, a teacher or guardian. Conscious of Fine Gael's refusal to lower the age of consent, he asked if he was "right" to think that they would oppose laws that would decriminalise sex between consenting teenagers.

The Opposition left, noting that they would have to consult with colleagues, though the Minister claimed a consensus existed when it did not with the Opposition.

Yesterday, the Opposition was shown a first draft, though it was quickly amended in handwriting once Mr O'Keeffe and Mr Howlin, in particular, highlighted defects. In a bid to ensure that 15 to 16-year-old teenagers do not end up in court for having sex with each other, Mr McDowell proposed that prosecutions would only be launched with the express consent of the DPP.

However, the Opposition pointed out that this directly contradicted his determination on Tuesday to ensure that both sexes were treated equally, since under it 15 to 16-year-old boys could be jailed for five years for having sex with a girl, though the girl could not be. Faced with signs that the age of consent would be lowered, Fine Gael has made it clear all week that it was unhappy.