Minister for Justice Michael McDowell is to brief the Cabinet next Tuesday on how he plans to respond to this week's Supreme Court judgment striking down the law making it an automatic crime to have sexual intercourse with a girl under 15.
Tánaiste Mary Harney told the Dáil yesterday the Government intended to have legislation ready for discussion by the Cabinet the following week, on June 6th or 7th. The Dáil would not be in session that week, she said, but "we could have it in the House the following week".
Mr McDowell said yesterday that, while he would act quickly, the result of the Supreme Court decision "isn't the gaping void that some people are arguing. Every sexual offence of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 15 is in fact also a sexual assault. No girl under 15 in our law can consent to a sexual assault on her. So the offence of sexual assault is always committed by someone who has intercourse with a girl of that age."
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Pat Kenny, he said he believed the offence carried a 14-year sentence. He agreed there was an anomaly in the law whereby if a 15-year-old boy and girl had sex with each other, the boy was committing an offence while the girl was not.
There were some people before the courts or awaiting trial or prosecution for having sex with under-15s, and the law in relation to sexual assault meant there was an alternative verdict available to the courts.
Meanwhile, the Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) in a statement yesterday said it was dismayed and concerned at the lack of coherence in Government statements about the introduction of new legislation regarding statutory rape.
Fiona Neary, RCNI executive director, said "as we have strongly stated, this is not a time for knee-jerk reactions and grand-standing gestures. On Wednesday the Taoiseach and Tánaiste assured the public that new legislation will be before the Dáil in two weeks' time. However, within a day the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform made a public statement suggesting this in fact may not be the case.
"The current situation is far too serious for politicians to throw promises around but then retreat on those commitments. We are left far from reassured and far from fully confident that an effective and prompt proposal will come before the Dáil."
Kate Mulkerrins, RCNI legal co-ordinator, said the young victims of sexual violence deserved a timely, excellently crafted, appropriately protective legislative response to the void created by the recent Supreme Court decision.
"We, the RCNI, commit ourselves and our limited resources but considerable expertise to assisting in achieving that end. We expect nothing less of the legislature.
"Any proposed legislation must send a strong and consistent message to sex offenders that sexual exploitation of children under the age of 15 is unacceptable."