Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, I join in the well-deserved congratulations to all the witnesses. I thank them both for their concern about this issue and for the amount of work they have put into this report. I also was delighted that my colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, mentioned William Wilberforce. The witnesses have chosen the ideal exemplar, to whom John Newton's conversion was such an inspiration. William Wilberforce stated that God has set him two tasks, namely, the abolition of the slave trade and the reformation of manners. He of course was not referring to good manners as were that the case, reform still would be necessary around here. He meant the change of behaviour in society, because it was a very brutal time in which there were many social problems.

This report and work shows that it is not just about changing laws; it is about changing public attitudes. It is about changing the way men and women see each other. Just looking at the array of different ideas and suggestions they have here, they are clearly in touch with so much of what needs to be done culturally.

What I would like to ask them is this. Social media are often seen as both a blessing and a curse. Social media can be used for tremendous good but they can also be the place where people are cruel to each other, cynical, laddish, etc. Do they see social media as more of an opportunity than a threat in trying to promote the kinds of attitude that will make the exploitation of people and their trafficking a thing of the past?