Emergency legislation will be rushed through the Dáil on Tuesday to close off the loophole in child protection law identified by the Labour leader, Pat Rabbitte.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell plans to have all stages of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Amendment Bill 2007 passed within two hours, beginning at 9.30pm on Tuesday. It is then due to pass all stages in the Seanad on Wednesday morning.
Mr Rabbitte welcomed the decision to clear Dáil business on Tuesday to deal with what he termed "the serious gap in our laws for the protection of children against sex abusers", which his party identified this week.
"This indicates that the issue is being taken with a degree of seriousness and urgency that was not immediately apparent from the statements of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
"The Tánaiste seemed originally to argue that the offence of soliciting children was a relatively minor matter but I do not think there is a single other parent in the country who would agree with him," said Mr Rabbitte.
He added that while the Tánaiste had argued that the offence was rarely prosecuted the record showed that in 2000 there were 55 prosecutions and 34 convictions for this offence.
"There are, of course, other and more serious offences that remain in force. But it would be little comfort to a victim to say that, if the abuse of a child had been greater, a prosecution could still be brought. Our community is entitled to expect thorough and complete protection against such heinous activities.
"There is no doubt but that the provision, which was inadvertently abolished last year, was inadequate in terms of the penalty that could be imposed on offenders. But that inadequacy should have been cured by increasing the penalty rather than abolishing the offence," said Mr Rabbitte.
He added that was precisely what the Department of Justice had intended to do, as the draft Bill on trafficking and sexual exploitation demonstrated. "That draft Bill is a major piece of work in progress. It is still with the Attorney General's Office and the Tánaiste can give no indication as to when it might be ready for enactment into law. In the interim, we are left with a serious deficiency in our criminal laws for the protection of children against sexual predators."
Meanwhile in Limerick last night, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said that by dismissing the solicitation of children for sex as "a minor offence", the Tánaiste had demonstrated his inability to see the problems facing the country. "Is there anything this Government can do right?"
