Ciarán Lynch TD

Already the legislation put in place to rectify the situation has been shown to be seriously flawed and will lead to other difficulties in its implementation. Introduced as a response to a constitutional crisis, the new legislation has the potential to actually criminalise the children it was put in place to protect in the first place.

While sexual activity amongst adolescences in their own peer group is not something to be condoned, the reality of the situation is that it happens. Now under the new legislation, adolescents who engage in sexual activity, face the real possibility of being criminalised for their behaviour. What is more, if successfully prosecuted they will find that upon conviction they will also be placed on the Sex Offender’s Register and that is something that stays on record for life.

Like every other parent in the country I am relieved that a loophole that was opened which allowed a rapist to walk out of jail has been closed. What I would now like to see happen, is for the legislation which was introduced, as a crisis driven response to a crisis situation, be examined with a fine tooth come in order to rectify the many flaws it contains.

Questions still exist as to how we got into such a situation in the first place. For me the strangest of all the excuses that we have heard to date, is that the government pleaded an ‘Absence of Knowledge’ of the matter until after it exploded. Perversely ‘Absence of Knowledge’ was the very same defence given by Mr A, enabling him albeit temporarily, to walk free.

In general terms and in everyday life, absence of knowledge or ignorance of the facts, can be a common enough occurrence and I’m sure has happened to many of us at least once. But in this case it was no excuse. It is a matter of public record that for over two years now that this case was being taken, and mention of its possible impact upon the Irish Constitution had been highlighted in both the Law Gazette and Irish Times. The Governments attitude it would appear was to take a ‘Wait and See’ approach. So rather than being proactive in dealing with the matter, their liaise-faire approach instead resulted in creating a national crisis. And it’s not the only national crisis our children potentially face.

Another crisis that our children face into the future is that they may never be able to afford their own home. Last week while the Supreme Court ruling rightly captured all the headlines, another news item also appeared creating it owns worries. It was reported that house prices are now going up by €600 a month. Further more, additional information released shows that first-time buyer’s figures have dropped several percent. Added to that is the news that tax returns for this year are up by over €600 Million more than was anticipated and that this is greatly down to sales in the property market. One question has to be asked here; if this huge sum is only the tax paid, how large must the profits be?

Should this current situation continue unchecked into the future, it will lead to an ‘appalling vista’ all of its very own. As the cost of housing in relation to salaries is now going up so fast that we may soon arrive at a point when young couples, both of whom are on a decent wage, will find that no matter how hard they save, they may never get on the property ladder.

Even in the depressed 80’s when interest rates were in the mid teens, working people and their families, still lived with the knowledge that buying a home was an attainable goal. Today in far more healthier economic times, we find something that has been taken for granted up to now, which is that if you are prepared to work hard and willing to make the necessary sacrifices, you will someday be in a position to buy your own home, looks very much like something that may become a thing of the past.

Were that day to come, it too just like the events of last week, would be a matter of national crisis. Undoubtedly excuses similar to those we had to listen to last week would once again be doled out. The difference this time is that there can be no plea by government to ‘an absence of knowledge’ of the crisis.

So in years to come when our children sit down to watch a programme like ‘Reeling in the Years’ and look back upon the events of the last couple of weeks, the question is will they will do so in the comfort of a home of their own? The answer to that rests here with us in the present.