Legal changes aimed at banning smacking and use of force on children came into effect as of today.
Minister for Children Dr James Reilly has signed a commencement order which removes the defence of ‘reasonable chastisement’ in cases where a person uses corporal punishment against a child.
The Minister says he hopes the change in law would lead to a cultural change in Irish society over the use of physical punishment on children: “It reinforces the developing impetus in parenting practice in Ireland to use positive discipline strategies in the upbringing of children which reject the use of corporal punishment”.
In May 2015 Europe’s top human rights body ruled that Ireland’s laws on corporal punishment were in breach of the European Social Charter, which commits to protecting children and young persons against negligence, violence and exploitation.
The ‘Growing up in Ireland’ study found up to 45 per cent of three-year-olds were still sometime smacked by their primary caregivers.