Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Question:36 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she plans to amend section 246 of the Child Care Act to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment in the home. [15102/12]
View answerThursday, 22 March 2012
Questions (39, 40)
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Question:41 Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her attention has been drawn to a recommendation to prohibit explicitly any form of corporal punishment in the family and to continue developing awareness raising and education for parents and for the public in general, that was made to Ireland during the UN universal periodic review process; her plans to implement this recommendation which the State has partially accepted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15101/12]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 36 and 41 together.
My Department is aware of the various recommendations from the universal periodic review process and specifically in relation to this matter where the State has agreed to ‘examine' the issue of prohibiting Corporal Punishment in the home setting. As the Deputy will be aware, recent research on ‘parental styles and disciplines' indicated that the practice of corporal punishment in Ireland has declined significantly in recent years with almost 90% of parents now opting for alternative means of discipline. In addition recent research from the longitudinal study of children in Ireland shows that the great majority of parents do not use smacking as a form of discipline. The most frequently used method of discipline was discussing/explaining why the behaviour was wrong and this discipline strategy was used by almost ninety percent of mothers (88%). Less than one percent (0.5%) of mothers reporting smacking their children "regularly or always".
One important approach is to support parents with advice and guidance. I am aware that a very wide range of parenting courses are available across the State at the present time which are delivered by various groups. Many of these courses address the issue of using alternative means of discipline and may have played a part in contributing to the significant decline in the prevalence of corporal punishment in the home setting in recent years. A review of these courses (many of which are in receipt of public funding) with a view to ensuring their effectiveness and standardising their content is a first step. The focus should be on supporting an understanding of the best forms of discipline to underpin positive parenting.
Such positive parenting initiatives are already the subject of evaluation by my Department under the Prevention and Early Intervention and related innovative practice projects. These evaluations will aid my understanding and support policy and funding decisions by my Department, the HSE Child and Family Services and other agencies into the future.
I should also emphasise that Section 246 of the Children's Act 2001 already provides very clear legal deterrents to the use of excessive physical discipline within the home setting or otherwise. Section 246(i) states as follows: 246.—(1) It shall be an offence for any person who has the custody, charge or care of a child wilfully to assault, ill-treat, neglect, abandon or expose the child, or cause or procure or allow the child to be assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned or exposed, in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to the child’s health or seriously to affect his or her well-being.
A common law defence of reasonable chastisement does apply but this has not prevented the Irish courts from handing down severe sentences in cases where parents have been accused and convicted of assault or use of excessive or unreasonable force. The practice of corporal punishment has been specifically prohibited in all professional care settings in recent years.
There are no immediate planes to amend section 246 but this has not been ruled out. This is one of the options open to me in examining this complex issue and it will be considered along with a range of other options in this regard in due course.