Both houses of the Oireachtas have passed the emergency legislation to the replace the law on statutory rape which was struck down by the Supreme Court last week.
The Seanad voted to accept the legislation this evening, while the Dáil passed the bill with some amendments from the Opposition this afternoon.
The bill was signed by President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin tonight, enabling it to become law.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell told the Seanad that he had not acted to replace the 1935 act earlier because he did not think to do so would be in the best interests of victims of statutory rape.
Earlier, Mr McDowell, warned the Dáil that the emergency legislation being rushed through today would have very negative consequences for the protection of children in our society.
He warned it would expose young victims to cross examination in court and would make them even more fearful. It would add a new layer of difficulty to the task of those whose job it was to protect children.
The 1935 law it replaced had been harsh and stern, he said, but it had been effective and had served the people of this country well.
Opposition critical of Government
The Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, told the special debate on the new legislation that the Government had lost touch with the people.
He said Mr McDowell was raising a red herring, telling him his job was to solve problems and not invent them.
The real issue, Mr Kenny said, was what he called the degrading political floorshow represented by the coalition's handling of the crisis.
Mr Kenny said he had never seen a wider gap between a Government and one side and the people on the other.
The Labour leader, Pat Rabbitte, claimed that over the last ten days the parents of Ireland had taken over from the parliamentarians.
His Labour colleague Brendan Howlin highlighted what he said were a series of anomalies in the bill which would have to be remedied.
The Green Party's Ciarán Cuffe said the measure was flawed and would have to be reviewed while Sinn Fein's Aengus Ó Snodaigh called on Mr McDowell to resign.
Last week's Supreme Court ruling, striking down the 1935 law under which charges of sex with children were laid, led to the release of one rapist and has provoked a storm of public outrage that left the Government in disarray.
The Coalition conceded on Wednesday that emergency legislation had to be rushed through today.
