McEntee to move 'quickly' on ruling banning the naming of murdered or abused children 

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said the court of appeal ruling is inadvertently protecting the people "that we don't want to protect". Picture: Sam Boal / Photocall Ireland

The Justice Minister has promised to move "as quickly as possible" on a court ruling banning the naming of children who have been murdered or abused.

Helen McEntee has said the court of appeal ruling which prevents the media from naming victims and their perpetrators is inadvertently protecting the people "that we don't want to protect".

She said she had listened to a recent radio interview on RTÉ's Claire Byrne Show with a now-adult victim who was sexually abused and who had the right to waive her anonymity taken away from her as a result of the ruling.

"She was extremely brave to come on and to speak in the way that she did and I think what struck me most is that it's not that she necessarily wants to put her name out there but the choice has been taken away from her.

Ms McEntee added that many victims and their families feel "gagged".

"I have had people come to me since this ruling, where children have been murdered where a parent wants to continue a legacy where they want to be able to name their children and remember them."

The minister said the ruling has impacted a huge number of people since it was made in October.

I'm actively working with my officials to try and bring this forward as quickly as possible, whatever format we need to do it, so whether it's working with opposition and government colleagues, whether it's a single piece of legislation, but it is being worked on at the moment.

"The problem is the court have obviously said that a child's identity can't be published but also this prohibition would apply to the identity of the person who killed the child if that would indirectly lead to the child's identity. So in an inadvertent way, it is protecting the person that we don't want to protect here," she said.

Separately Ms McEntee said the Government is working to "plug the gaps" in the law to prevent fraud following the publication of a report on white-collar crime.

"We're a small country we have five million people but we have the fifth largest financial services sector in Europe we have over 100,000 people working in this space and with insurance and others."

She said added that we have moved into a digital era where everybody does everything online and the potential for fraud is massive.