The Government is to consider lowering the age of consent for sex from 17 to 16. Enda Kenny opposed the idea 
when he was opposition leader in 2006.
The issue was set to be discussed today in the final meeting before the Christmas break, The Irish Times reports.
An Oireachtas committee recommended lowering the age of consent in 2006, but the move was opposed by Mr Kenny, a number of Cabinet members of the then Fianna Fail Government and the Catholic bishops.
The Rape Crisis Centre also expressed reservations about the proposals.
Mr Kenny said the proposed move would send a “wrong signal to our children about values and standards”.
“This decision is out of touch with the values and aspirations of the vast majority of parents in Ireland, parents who want to live up to their responsibilities to nurture and protect their children,” he said in 2006.
He added: “I know young people do have sex at 16 or whenever.
“But that doesn’t mean that these things are right. It doesn’t mean that they are inevitable, nor should we make it legal.”
Reports suggest that a memo being brought to Cabinet by Justice Minister Alan Shatter does not come down on either side of the argument.
It is part of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2013, and the memo puts forwards arguments for both lowering the age and keeping the current level.
This is unusual in itself since memorandums brought by Ministers usually recommend a certain course of action.
Among the arguments for lowering the age is that it would prevent the criminalisation of younger people, while one of the reasons for keeping it at 17 is a lower consent age would encourage inappropriate sexual activity at a younger age.
The memo also lists three actions to avoid “inappropriate prosecutions” of young people who engage in sexual activity with their peers.
One is to continue to use the discretion of the Director of Public Prosecutions; another is to allow a defence where a sexual act was consensual and between two people of “proximate age”; while a third is allowing a combination of the two.
