Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 20 February 2024

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth

Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Declan McLoughlin:

It is also worth mentioning again briefly that we are part of a global online safety regulators' network. This includes the eSafety Commissioner in Australia, the regulators in Korea and South Africa, Ofcom in the UK and ARCOM in France. It is an expanding group. There are also observer members from the United States and other jurisdictions. This network has established a user awareness and training working group. While we have the very definite focus in our own organisation which Ms Hodnett has just outlined, we are not going it alone. The eSafety Commission in Australia, as we all know, has greatly developed its training awareness resource. It is one of the powerful impacts of that organisation as a leading light on how to engage citizens. We will learn from it. We will also learn from other jurisdictions so that together we build a common understanding of the most impactful way to let citizens know their rights. The contact centre is one example of this. One of its main purposes is that people can call the contact centre to explain they have a problem and ask what they can do. The contact centre means that people are not going around in the dark trying to find out how to resolve an issue. There is somebody at the end of the phone who can help them. This is the first important step that we have prioritised. We are doing work on our own but we are also engaging internationally with leaders in this field such as the eSafety Commission. It is very definitely a very strong part of our remit and our focus.