On November 11 the Republic of Ireland joins the 46 countries (and 19 of the 28 EU countries) that have banned smacking. The Government’s amendment to its Children First Bill abolishes the defence of “reasonable chastisement.” It is possible to watch live at:
http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/watchlisten/watchlive/daileireann/#d.en.15809.
The Bill should come into force very shortly.
The amendment was first tabled by Senator Jillian Van Turnhout, who pointed out that: “This ancient defence of reasonable chastisement is not an Irish invention. It came to us from English common law. England has been responsible for rooting this legal defence in over 70 countries and territories throughout the world.” She and others expressed the hope that the UK will follow the Irish lead. The Welsh Labour Party and Plaid Cymru are committed to enacting a ban after the Welsh Assembly elections next year and the SNP is currently considering this.