Jillian van Turnhout (Independent)

I thank all my colleagues and, in particular, the Minister. He has paid full attention throughout the debate and he has listened to what we have had to say. He has given a commitment to fully consider blocking sites in the context of the development of the planned sexual offences Bill and I strongly urge him to do so. Both the Garda Síochána and Interpol wrote last year to Internet service providers in Ireland requesting them to introduce blocking. That has not happened and that is why, as a group, we took the step to put forward the motion to introduce a legislative proposal.

I thank the ISPCC, which has been strongly supportive of our work in this area. While I thank all the Senators who made contributions, I would particularly like to thank colleagues in my group: Senators O'Donnell, O'Brien, McAleese, Mac Conghail and Zappone.

I served seven years as chief executive officer of the Children's Rights Alliance and I thought I had hardened to some of the hardcore child abuse issues and I had heard most of it. As we have explored this issue and as my colleague, Senator O'Donnell, clearly illustrated, there is the issue of the effects of these images and how they can define one's life. Every picture is a child scene. I earlier described the profile of the main victims, with 69% being under the age of ten and 4% under the age of two. They often receive counselling as part of their recovery but what about the knowledge they have that their names and pictures are on the Internet and that Ireland is not blocking them? Can Members imagine walking down Grafton Street or around a shopping centre looking around and wondering whether people know who they are and what happened to them?

I trust the Minister's commitment and I believe he is convinced but I want to share with him our group's commitment to follow this issue up to ensure blocking is put in place.