The physical punishment of children is illegal in 22 countries, but Ireland has been slow to outlaw the practice completely. Some 15 years ago the legal right of parents to use force in disciplining their children was repealed. However, for parents or child carers reasonable chastisement of children was tolerated, and has remained an option. Smacking is still allowed and, for parents and child carers, it exists as a common law defence. The Council of Europe has found that Ireland, by tolerating this practice, is in breach of the European Social Charter, as our domestic law fails to protect children adequately against such violence. Ireland is a signatory to the charter, and the Government must now address the issue, which it intends to do.
Ireland has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which also prohibits violence against children. The UN too has been critical of the State’s failure to outlaw corporal punishment within the family. In Ireland, the subject of smacking still divides opinion. A national study of three-year-olds showed that almost half of their primary caregivers occasionally smacked those in their charge. While a Government commissioned survey found just 42 per cent supported an outright ban on smacking. This shows a relatively high level of social acceptance for this quite unacceptable form of punishment.
Physical punishment has no place in disciplining children, and inflicting pain and instilling fear is an abuse of parental authority. The use of force against a child to secure compliance with a parent’s wishes can never be justified, and it can also have damaging psychological consequences for its victim. Ireland, for far too long, has tolerated an unacceptable practice. And to be found in breach of the European Social Charter whose signatories promise “to protect children and young persons against negligence, violence or exploitation” is both a regrettable stain on our international reputation, and a serious embarrassment.