For the past year, Government and opposition parties have agreed on the need for legislation to deal with child trafficking and pornography. And now the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, has published a Bill. The legislation will go before the Oireachtas in January and it is expected to be passed as a matter of urgency by Government. Given the virtual torrent of cases involving sexual abuse of children that are currently under investigation by the authorities, or before the courts, it is obvious that our society is paying a price for the obscurantism that for long has been allowed to settle on the area of sexuality and of sexual education. When children have been advised by their schools on issues of sexuality, responsibility, friendship and relationships, they will be better prepared to defend themselves against criminally deviant sexual behaviour.
For the first time, under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Bill, 1997, `child pornography' will be defined in Irish law and a `child' will be regarded as a person under 17 years. Three main types of pornographic material are mentioned: visual material which shows children engaged in explicit sexual activity or displays their bodies for a sexual purpose; aural material which represents a child engaged in explicit sexual activity and visual or aural material that advocates, encourages or counsels unlawful sexual activity with children.
The heaviest penalty - life imprisonment - is reserved for those who traffic in children across and within national boundaries for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Penalties of up to ten years imprisonment and fines of £100,000 are proposed for a range of offences involving the production, distribution, printing, publishing, importation, sale and display of such material. The possession of child pornography for personal use attracts a fine of up to £5,000 or five years imprisonment.
Mr O'Donoghue is to be complimented on his commitment, both in opposition and in Government, to countering the vile trade in child pornography. The prison sentences proposed for the various offences reflect a `zero tolerance' approach and are considerably harsher than those proposed by the last government. Justifying such strong measures, the Minister has said he believes they reflect the public odium and revulsion in which the people who purvey this despicable trade are held. No doubt he is correct in that assessment, given the current rash of dreadful court cases. But there is room for debate over the sanctions proposed for the possession of material for personal use.
An inter-departmental working group, dealing with the `illegal and harmful use of the Internet' is due to report to the Minister in the new year. Its brief includes an examination of the availability of pornographic material and terrorist information, on the Internet. Given the difficulties and delays inherent in dealing with these issues through international treaties or by way of national restrictions on access to parts of the Internet, the Minister was right to opt for early action against the criminals and perverts engaged in child pornography.