Dr. Mary Aiken:

This is a global problem and the question as to why we should act now is important. The Government was put on notice by the ICGAG report that sites advocating self-harm such as cutting, anorexia and suicide were harmful to children. We have since had a period of time in which the Government has been aware of this problem, but it has failed to act. We have been here before in Ireland in allowing forms of abuse to perpetuate. It raises the question of liability. We cannot have class and group actions, but we certainly can have mass actions. Dr. McIntyre is looking at a mass action in another area. What happens when parents start coming forward to say there is a connection between something their child was exposed to and a self-harming behaviour in which that child subsequently engaged and seeking to be compensated?