Minister moves to ban slapping of children

It could soon be illegal to slap your child, as Minister for Children, Dr James Reilly seeks Cabinet approval for change to the law that would effectively ban physical punishment. The Minister wants the defence of "reasonable chastisement" removed from Irish law, bringing Ireland into line with much of the rest of Europe. A source close to the Minister told The Irish Times: “We already have laws to prevent us from hitting one another. The new initiative would prevent persons, charged under laws already in place, from having recourse to the defence of reasonable chastisement.” The right of parents and caregivers to use “reasonable and moderate chastisement” in disciplining children was confirmed in article 37 of the Children Act 1908. In May, Ireland's laws on corporal punishment were found to be in breach of the European Social Charter. The Council of Europe appealed to Irish lawmakers to outlaw it immediately and embrace "positive parenting programmes set up by governments to encourage parents to make the family violence-free."

"Violence against children, including corporal punishment, is a major abuse of their human rights, and equal protection under the law must be guaranteed to them." read the statement.

The ISPCC has welcomed the proposals: "One of the reasons we are really strongly welcoming this change, which is being proposed by Minister Reilly, is because there is a grey area in terms of the protection of children under the law, and there never should be." said Grainne Long, Chief Executive. "We should be really clear about what is right and what is wrong when we talk about children and their protection." Bizarrely, Pope Francis seems to take a different view on the matter, and recently praised a man who admitted he had to "hit his children a bit". What do you think, should parents have any defence for slapping a child? Let us know on Twitter @HerFamilydotie.