The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, may increase the penalties for persons convicted of soliciting children for prostitution. A spokeswoman for the Minister said last night if Mrs Owen considered a change in the law desirable, a suitable, amendment would be put into the Children's Bill which was before the Dail.
Judge Flan Brennan said in Dundalk District Court on Wednesday that the £250 fine for a first offence of soliciting a boy for prostitution was an insult to society and intelligence.