Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Before I try to answer Deputy Colreavy's serious question, I will point out that while it would be natural that committee members would reflect the concerns being brought to them by constituents, parents, etc., it is also important to acknowledge that this technology is an exciting, revolutionary and unprecedented development in civilisation. Colleagues are focusing on the minority of serious new challenges that it poses for society and the Government, but its capacity to do good and to transform the way we interact with one another is almost unlimited. Consider its impact on political developments. Consider the phenomenon of the Arab Spring, which no one in these Houses would have predicted ten years ago. The technology has had an amazing influence.

Deputy Colreavy is focusing on some of the very sad instances that this country has seen. In this regard, we must do everything we can to protect our children in particular. However, I must repeat the fact that bullying did not come in with the Internet. There has been bullying inside and outside our school system since Adam was a boy. It can be elevated to a new level by this technology.

Best practice is slowly evolving. The committee will be interested to know that there have recently been a number of high profile cases in which court orders have been effected requiring the service providers to disclose the identities of anonymous persons posting offensive material. This relates to the question raised by Deputy O'Mahony. In many instances, it is possible to get service providers to track anonymous posters. This is under way in a number of jurisdictions.

"Yes" is the answer to Deputy Colreavy's question. The optimum co-operation between my Department and the Department of Education and Skills is desirable. Yesterday, the Minister for Education and Skills and I launched the high speed broadband programme for schools in the wider Dublin region, including counties Meath and Kildare. We visited a school where we saw at first hand the extraordinary potential of this technology. In an inner city school four young women are taking higher level maths remotely. They are being taught by a teacher in a different school in Clondalkin. One could not afford to have a higher level maths class devoted to four students, but they can use the technology to study thanks to the co-operation of Coláiste Bríde in Clondalkin. There are tremendous possibilities.

Schools teach and have regard to the safety considerations to which the Deputy referred. Students are way ahead of their parents in terms of knowledge concerning the pitfalls and the capacity of the technology.

Deputy Colreavy is correct in that it is undoubtedly a question of raising awareness. It is also a question of co-operation between the Departments and agencies involved. I anticipate that this is the area in respect of which the committee is likely to make recommendations.