Vol. 489 No. 1
112 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the proposals, if any, he has to introduce legislation to ensure that parents would be responsible for crimes committed by their children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7564/98]
The Children Bill, 1966, which deals primarily with juvenile justice matters, is at present before this House awaiting Committee Stage. Where children have been found guilty of committing offences, the Bill seeks to involve their parents at every stage of any subsequent proceedings. In particular, section 67 of the Bill obliges parents to attend court when their child is charged with an offence; section 90 gives the court power to order parents to pay compensation in respect of any offence of which their child has been found guilty and section 91 gives the court power to order parents to enter into a recognisance to exercise proper and adequate control over their child. However, it would not be feasible, for constitutional reasons, to make parents criminally liable for offences committed by their children.
