Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for facilitating me.

I am not a member of the committee, but I was made aware that two of my constituents were here. I was really impressed to see them on television last night. As they did an excellent job, I had better pull up my socks, as it seems that there is competition coming down the track.

I was delayed in getting here because I was on the Today with Sean O'Rourkeradio programme to speak about broadband, or rather the lack of it, in rural areas. These issues are intermixed in the development of technologies and providing access to high speed broadband. What the delegates have provided for us is very helpful. We are charged with responsibility for making laws that will attempt to regulate how technologies are rolled out and people behave when using them and it is a struggle for us. We are used to dealing with the old issues of law and order, physical evidence, transport, etc. As all of this is dealt with in a cyber environment, it is much harder to understand.

From the presentation I see that the delegates, as a group, are developing and creating an environment in which responsible behaviour will be the guide, rather than attempting to create laws to try to regulate activities. Just because one can do certain things with technology does not mean that one should do them. Someone can drive a car at 150 mph along a road, but he or she should not do so because it would put lives in danger. We should have that mindset in the use of technology. I liked what the delegates said about not necessarily restricting access to phones in school but ensuring there was a responsible approach to what one could do with one. It is a tool. Parents may need to contact their children, or they may need to obtain information. There should, however, be some restrictions in accessing social media, which would be very good.

I compliment the delegates on the approach they are taking. It is very clear that if tech companies or social media platforms were forced to provide access for parents or the authorities, as sure as night follows day, two kids in a garage would create another app and model to which everybody would migrate. The ways around technology far surpass that approach. Whatever we do has to empower social responsibility, which was previously taught in school. It is now harder because of all of the technologies available. My daughter is in transition year and has just been involved in a project to make a video on online bullying. It concerns overweight children and how their images can be doctored which can lead to them being laughed at and they can end up isolated as a result. My daughter's project is using technology in a positive way. She texted me recently to ask me to share it. This shows how technology can be used in a good way, in this case by showing how someone's behaviour, even if he or she is being jocose, can have a profound affect on the life of the person being bullied.

I have listened very carefully to what the delegates said. It should be helpful to us in addressing the big issue.

The digital age of consent should be explored further. We can put much greater pressure on the big social media platforms in that regard. There are apps for communication, but the operators of big social media apps have vast amounts of money. They are tracking everything a person does online, with the aim of eventually marketing to them directly at a later stage. If they capture a person at 12 or 13 years of age, they hope to track everything he or she will do for his or her entire life and sell things to him or her along the way. The aim is not to facilitate chats with friends. From a regulatory point of view, we have to look at ways in which we can force them to make it harder for people who wish to use these platforms for nefarious purposes or reasons. It is not in any way to inhibit the normal banter that goes on between young people.