Ms Deirdre O'Keeffe:

In terms of the cross-border or international aspect, it will always be difficult to ensure co-operation, because the Internet does not recognise geographical borders. How we operate is that whenever something is reported to the hotline, if the material is illegal and the site is hosted in Ireland, we report it to the Garda Síochána and they pursue it in the normal course. However, if the site is hosted outside of the jurisdiction, the Garda will deal with its colleagues in the police force in the appropriate jurisdiction to try to proceed on the issue. We also talk to the Internet service provider, with a view to having the material taken down. I suspect there may be difficulties with regard to a site closing down automatically, but I will defer to Mr. Boyle on that.