Fine Gael has welcomed the call by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a referendum to amend the constitution to reinstate the offence of statutory rape.
Children’s spokesman Alan Shatter said it had become clear in recent weeks that the Government had “lost both its appetite and commitment” to holding such a referendum on the protection of children.
DPP James Hamilton yesterday told a conference on sexual violence that prosecuting people for having sex wuith young girls is now “immensely more difficult” under the 2006 Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act.
That law was introduced after the Supreme Court struck down a law that made it an absolute offence to have sex with a girl under the age of 17. The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional that an accused could not enter a defence that he honestly believed the girl to be over 17.
Mr Shatter welcomed the DPP’s acknowledgement of the difficulty in prosecuting such cases in the wake of the 2006 Act. He said the issue had been the subject of “extensive submissions” over the past seven months to the Joint Oireachtas Committee considering a children’s rights amendment to the constitution.
He said Fine Gael had furnished detailed proposals to the committee for “essential and urgent” changes to the constitution and that it was essential a referendum be held.
“Unfortunately, with all the resources available to them, the Government has to date failed to furnish to the committee any reforming proposals.
“The Government parties have reneged on each timeline set down for an exchange of proposals and are presently unable to inform the committee when either the Government or Fianna Fail as a party will be furnishing something of substance to the committee. In recent weeks it has become clear that the Government has lost both its appetite and commitment to the essential referendum, which must be held if children are to have the protection to which they are entitled.”
Mr Shatter said he hoped last night’s speech by the DPP would bring a “new sense of urgency and realism” to both the Government and Fianna Fáil’s approach.
“It is unacceptable that under the current law sexual predators have open season to stalk, groom and seduce young teens.”
The Government recently signalled that it may introduce new laws to strengthen child protection as an alternative to holding a divisive referendum.
Senior sources told The Irish Timesearlier this month that there is little desire among political parties to hold a promised referendum on child protection following the fall-out of the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Instead, a range of legislative options which may not need a change to the Constitution are being explored.