The Tánaiste Mary Harney has told the Dáil that the Minister for Justice will brief the Cabinet next Tuesday regarding the striking down of the law that made it an automatic crime to have sex with a girl under the age of 15.
Michael McDowell has said he does not intend to rush through emergency legislation to deal with the matter.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio, he said the Supreme Court ruling, which declared Section 1.1 of the 1935 Criminal Law Amendment Act unconstitutional, did not leave a gaping hole in the law.
Mr McDowell said that under legislation introduced in 1990 every sexual offence or unlawful carnal knowledge involving a girl under the age of 15 is considered a sexual assault.
