Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said she hopes legislation allowing for the identification of child victims of homicide can be passed “in a matter of weeks”. The amendment is set to be retrospective and will cover children who cannot currently be named due to a court ruling last October. Ms McEntee said adopting Mr McDowell’s bill was the quickest way to deal with the issue. These would allow the identity of a child to be published in any proceedings involving the death of a child, therefore enabling parents to speak publicly about their child. One example, she said, would be where identification of a deceased child might inadvertently cause harm to a sibling who is still alive.

Source: Irish Independent February 09, 2021 18:44 UTC