Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presentation, arising from which I would like to make a couple of points. I agree with the Minister's final comment that social media is a power for good and that bullying has always been and will continue to be a fact of life. Bullying is developing with technology. It has moved from a piece of chewing gum being fired from the end of a ruler at the back of the classroom to iPhones. It will adapt as technology improves. In terms of how we are going to address it, we need to be realistic. The Minister put his finger on it when he said that cross-country legislative frameworks are not realistic. That is the first thing we need to acknowledge before deciding on what we can do.

The Minister said earlier that some people have yet to fully appreciate that public messages via social media have the same legal character as when published in a newspaper. The problem that arises is that for an awful lot of people, access to a system whereby they can clear their name, either in relation to a social media or newspaper article, is prohibitive. The courts in Ireland are for many reasons the reserve of people with money. Redress for a person who has been defamed in the print or social media is prohibitive. Up to now the focus of the conversation on this issue has been primarily around young people who are technologically mobile. The difficulty of accessing the courts in terms of cost and time arises. As the Minister said, there has been limited success in terms of obtaining court orders in this area. I believe the committee's focus must be on making our courts system more accessible to people in this modern era. We must ensure the Courts Service takes account of the changed environment in which we are operating. It is an institution that does not move as quickly as we would like it to.

In terms of its work in this area, the committee needs to focus on how to make the courts more accessible and affordable to people wishing to have their rights reinforced and on how we can ensure people are aware that when they post on a social media site it is the same as publishing it in The Irish Times or Irish Independent in terms of consequences. That is the challenge for this committee.