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LUCINDA CREIGHTON HAS said proposals to criminalise parents who smack their children are “totally unacceptable”.
The Renua Ireland leader was responding to comments made by Children’s Minister James Reilly in light of an EU ruling stating that Irish smacking laws are in breach of European law.
Reilly told the News at One yesterday he would discuss removing the defence of reasonable chastisement from Irish common law – the outright banning of smacking within the family.
Reasonable chastisement has already been removed as a defence for schools and teachers in cases of corporal punishment.
Creighton is unhappy with the proposal, saying: “Mums and dads in today’s world operate under serious time and fiscal pressures.”
“Even parents who smack their children know at a deep level that striking a child, no matter how gently, represents a failure of parenting.
The notion that a parent who lightly smacks a child might be criminalised is a step too far.
Creighton said Ireland “spent many years trying to get the state out of our bedrooms in terms of telling people how to live”.
Are we now to replace the old ways with a nanny state which will be squinting into the windows of law abiding parents looking for the slightest slip up to occur so they can reach an arrest quota?
The former Fine Gael junior minister said parents “make mistakes” and need more support such as improved child care facilities and parental leave.
“The defence of reasonable chastisement does not advocate the corporal punishment of children.
“The best way to deal with issues of such sensitivity as the smacking of children is through creating social sanctions and a culture where it is not considered acceptable,” Creighton added.
Reilly said the government doesn’t “intend reaching into everyone’s home”, adding: “Parents these days use other methods of raising their children and disciplining them.”
Yesterday June Tinsley, Head of Advocacy at Barnardos, said Ireland has “rightly come under fire for not legislating for a full ban on all forms of corporal punishment of children, including smacking children at home”.
“Our legal system doesn’t allow adults to be violent to each other so it makes no sense to allow a parent be violent to a child, especially as children are particularly vulnerable members of our society.”
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‘Nation is a thorn in Company’s side’. That is a scary headline when you think of it.
When will Facebook get their own Private Military Force I wonder?
I’d imagine they’ve intelligence gathering capabilities to put most governments to shame.
And we happily give it that information out.
Imagine if “the government” told us it was now the law that we had to give all that personal data, and carry it around on a tracking device.
We would have all the lefties AND righties screaming blue murder.
Bill you can leave Facebook any time you’d like and that’s the end of their ability to track you, I’m not sure Government enforced tracking is even remotely similar.
Not true, you don’t have to use Facebook to be tracked by it.
All the bleaters who give out about the state and big brother watching you…all overlooking Facebook, Google Apple etcetc
Are you ok Huns?
Pm’d you there hun xoxoxo
Like if you cried
Wasn’t Merkel snuggling up to Facebook in an attempt to control what Germans were saying about her folly In inviting the Middle East , North Africa and Asia to come live in Europe , I wonder did they do what they were told ?
At the same time German exports are on a massive high, unlike us, the French and the rest of EU. Go figure.
It’s possible to be over reliant on exports though. Leaves you very exposed if the world economy takes a dump. It’s a very fine balance.
Facebook is a free service from the user perspective that allows you to do a great deal. If it didn’t exist you’d have to invent it. If you want to use a free service then you have to expect a quid pro quo. What is required is that companies such as Facebook are clear about the quid pro who.
There is a huge capacity to tweak your privacy settings on Facebook if you can be bothered to do so. The problem is that many users are not bothered.
The Germans have never been happy with companies like Facebook and Google who use their users’ data to provide what is essentially a commercial service. Apple do not use their user’s data to provide their services. They don’t need to. Their commercial model is different. Horses for courses.
The competition angle is highly contrived. What the Germans resent is that under EU law they are not in exclusive control of Facebook’s activities on their territory. They bitterly resent the notion that a little country like Ireland has such control because the EU HQ of Facebook is here. Strangely enough they have no problem with other aspects of EU law which have opened up internal EU markets to their industries. Like most large States the Germans are hypocrites.
It is easy to criticise Facebook but they have come a long way as has Google in terms of transparency of data use. Continued oversight is needed. But people have to take the time to protect their privacy on-line. Many do not.
Here’s the thing. Don’t like like how Facebook operates… Dont use it. Simple Don’t use a free service voluntarily and then complain about it
“…und das ist all you’ll ever be..”
Facebook’s problem is has to take a side in this freedom of speech debate, look at Twitter who have done the same thing. Twitters user based has dropped along with its share price since it started attacking freedom of speech of some of its users. Any social network platform that takes the wrong side will find to its cost it was an awful business decision.
Agree John.
Germans have bad experience of being spied on the East German Stassi for instance
http://www.mtv.com/news/2723688/germany-twitter-facebook-google-deal-hate-speech-refugees-migrants-muslims/
http://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-faces-antitrust-investigation-in-germany-1456920796
there is huge pressure put on the likes of FB, Google etc by outside international political bodies like the UN Migration dept, EU commision etc. to censor all anti migrant speech and collect data on every one. From the stazi era i germany the average middle aged german is rightly concerned by the incremental erosion of their privacy and the censorship of things disliked by those at the top.
What is happening there now is a semi grassroots reaction to this led by worried german civil servants and concerned politicians. Merkel is all on board with the soviet era top down east german control.
have your say