Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As Members will be aware, EU law takes precedence in these issues. If the Chair will allow, I will briefly give a little background or the processing involved in arriving at a digital age of consent. The issue is more than just age. It is the manner in which social media are being addressed by service providers themselves. There is also the role of parents and, of course, the rights, or otherwise, of the user.

Currently, there is no digital age of consent in Ireland. This is a new legal concept. To prepare for our European framework, the general data protection regulation, GDPR, a consultation process was undertaken by the Government in November 2016. My Department launched that process. Submissions were invited from interested parties on the issue of the digital age of consent. There was a comprehensive process of consultation which also fed into the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality. A clear majority of those who responded, including the Ombudsman for Children, the Internet safety advisory committee and the Children's Rights Alliance, recommended to us that a digital age of consent be set at 13.

Based on that, the Government formed the view that 13 years of age represented an appropriate balancing of children's rights, children's right to participate online and the right to accord with international instruments such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Government felt that if the age was to be higher than that, there would be real difficulties with enforcement. They would not be dissimilar to issues raised with the Minister of Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, in respect of the enforceability of restriction on the use of mobile phones in schools. There are technologically savvy 13, 14 and 15 year olds. IT literacy is particularly high.

We listened to groups such as the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ISPCC, Spunout, the Digital Youth Council and CyberSafeIreland. In addition, I acknowledge the contribution of the Special Rapporteur for Child Protection, Dr. Geoffrey Shannon. He appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality when the Bill was under pre-legislative scrutiny. It was on that basis, having regard to the entirety of the issues, that the age was set at 13. We also looked at international practice. It is noteworthy that our neighbours in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic all have 13. Austria has 14. It was on that basis, and having regard to the outcome of the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Data Protection Bill, that the Government took that view.

I refer to setting the age of consent at 13. I believe it is important that we consider what more Government and the service providers can do to ensure there is an appropriate level of protection and that people, and parents in particular, can feel confident the State is playing its part and doing its best. I refer to the deliberations and relationship with the service providers to ensure there are protections and safety. That too will form part of the consultative process taking place later on in the year. There is a lot more involved here than just setting the age. We are also setting parameters. It is important appropriate consideration be given, in the context of any legislative initiative, to ensure the safety and protection of children.