The government says it will ensure men and women found guilty of incest are treated equally in law when new sexual offences laws are published later this year.

Currently a woman found guilty of incest cannot be jailed for life, while a man can be.

Reform Alliance TD Denis Naughten has brought a Bill before the Dáil to change the law in the wake of the Roscommon incest case.

He wants a loophole in the 1908 Incest laws changed.

In the only case of its kind in the history of the state a woman was jailed for seven years after being convicted of ten counts of incest, sexual abuse and neglect of her children.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter says while he is not opposing the legislation, he will not allow them to pass into law as he says incest laws are not strong enough.

Minister Shatter says he is planning a wide-ranging change in sexual offence laws, particularly in the family.