To ask the Minister of Justice whether she intends to introduce provisions in the Justice Bill to remove the defence of reasonable chastisement in law.

I am fully supportive of removing the defence of reasonable chastisement from the law here, however any such amendment requires Executive agreement.

Despite my best efforts to do so, I have not been able to secure Executive agreement to deliver a change in the law in the current Justice Bill, but I will continue to work with my ministerial colleagues to seek their support to repeal the defence of reasonable chastisement here and move towards a position of equal protection for children in Northern Ireland.