Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms O'Keeffe's presentation. I am embarrassed to say that when the Minister referred to the Office for Internet Safety in his presentation, I thought it sounded like a group we should invite in. I did not realise that representatives of the office were the next to speak. I regret to say I had never heard of the Office for Internet Safety before this morning, which is probably even more embarrassing for me. It is probably my fault. I have three young children, two of whom have access to the iPads and iPods that every child of 11, 12, 13 or 14 seems to have. Obviously, the office plays a strong role. Its presentation is central to the work this committee will do in the coming weeks to assess whether the State should intervene in the area of social media. I believe any intervention should be absolutely minimal and should be aimed at ensuring people act within the law. I want to pick up on the point that was made about something that is legal or illegal offline also being legal or illegal online. That is not strictly the case, unfortunately, in one small respect. The Minister made the point that there is a gap in the legislation relating to online contact that takes the form of harassment or bullying. Our work will have to focus on this narrow sphere.

I was very interested in what Ms O'Keeffe had to say in her presentation. I am deeply embarrassed as a parent that I had not heard about the work done by her office. Online bullying takes place on many platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and ask.fm. The websites I have mentioned account for a significant amount of online activity. Offline bullying should be dealt with where it happens. In my opinion, bullying in the playground should be dealt with in the playground and bullying at home should be dealt with at home. If bullying takes place on Facebook, Twitter or another platform, does the office have a presence to deal with it? Has it been in contact with the companies in question to deal with some of the issues that have come to light? We will address those issues in the coming weeks when we hear the testimonies of various parties.

Is Ms O'Keeffe satisfied that her office is in a position to do its work competently? I appreciate that much of its work relates to child pornography and similar issues. Is Ms O'Keeffe satisfied that the legislation governing issues like online harassment and cyberbullying is up to scratch? If not, can she say whether she has reported or commented on areas where she would like legislation to be introduced to allow the office to do its work fully? Has she worked or had any contact with the Minister's office or the Law Reform Commission? Has she had any feedback from them, obviously through the Department? While I had not heard of the office before today - mea culpa - I believe it has a central role in what we are trying to do. The lack of awareness of the role of the office is a problem that needs to be addressed. I do not know whether it should be addressed by the office or by this committee. Information about this resource needs to get out there. Perhaps this presentation will do some good in that regard.