Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

That is nice to know, even if everybody might not agree with you. I welcome the Minister to the House. I also welcome the motion that was tabled by the Independent group, including Senator van Turnhout. I know that the European Parliament and Council directive was adopted last December and that the Government is working on it as well. We know from the history of the State how we have failed children in the past. I know the Minister is proactive and such failure will not be repeated under his watch. Legislation is one way to deal with the issue and he has shown, since he came to office, that he is serious about tackling such matters. I also thank the Independent group for tabling its motion.

The EU directive demonstrates the willingness of the European Union to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and enhance international co-operation. If we look at the stark reality of advanced technology, the Internet has given the sexual exploitation of children a cross-national element. The UN estimates that 200 new child abuse images are placed on the Internet every day. The Internet can be regarded as having transformed global communication, but in many ways it is a dangerous tool that can facilitate some heinous crimes, including child sexual exploitation. It needs careful policing in this regard.

The Internet is a worldwide phenomena without borders or an organisation controlling it. Earlier I listened to the Minister's speech when he spoke about the Internet's self-regulatory framework for the ISPs that operate in Ireland that actively encourages the adoption of best practice procedures aimed at limiting the proliferation of illegal child pornography content. In a number of EU member states, Internet blocking systems are in use. The list of blocked sites containing child pornography is made available by the police and other competent authorities and is utilised by individual ISPs to prevent access to such content. Earlier Senator van Turnhout listed the countries that have a blocking system. It is generally acknowledged that all Internet blocking or filtering systems are not foolproof and can be circumvented in certain circumstances. Filtering systems do prevent Internet users from inadvertently encountering such illegal content. Of course the key objective from a law enforcement perspective is to achieve the removal of such material from the Internet at source. I welcome the call from the Independent Senators' group to sanction a system that would allow child abuse material hosted overseas to be blocked.

I read the Minister's speech and listened to his presentation and understand that he is working on the issue in the sexual offences Bill that he will introduce. Any such Bill must be seriously considered and thought out. The motion was seriously thought out and thorough and I commend those who composed it, but I also support the Minister's legislation and his comments in that regard.

Any suspected offences involving the sexual abuse of children through the Internet or other technologies, whether originating in Ireland or coming to the attention of gardaí through international agencies or hotlines, is subject to thorough investigation. I wanted to state that should anybody listening to the debate or reading it later think there is a free-for-all in the country. Specialist computer software is available to the Garda Síochána and is utilised to gather information and intelligence on possible suspects operating in this jurisdiction. Law enforcement agencies from 26 European countries, including Ireland, supported and co-ordinated by Europol, carried out a major crackdown in 2011 against online child sexual abuse file sharing networks. The operation targeted those sharing the most extreme forms of video material, which included babies and toddlers being sexually abused. The operation has already uncovered previously unknown networks of child sexual offenders operating on different Internet channels.

As I said, there is ongoing international debate about the effectiveness of blocking systems because they only work on standard web pages. The systems have become almost obsolete since international experience has shown that most child abuse images or child pornography is now transmitted via other systems such as peer-to-peer file sharing systems, digital systems and online digital lockers that are unaffected by a blocking system. I think Senator Rónán Mullen and other Senators have already referred to the various online technologies and I am not going to pretend to be au fait with half of them. The Minister also mentioned them.

I know the legislation is in good hands and the Minister is working on combatting the issue. Again, I thank the Independent Senators for tabling the motion.