Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for coming before the committee - they are all welcome - and for the submissions they have given. I also acknowledge the presence of Dara Quigley's mother and thank her for coming in. I offer my sympathies on the death of Dara.

The function of this committee is such that we will produce a report. Since we are lawmakers, the primary function of the report will be to explore how we think the law should be changed. I say this just so the witnesses are aware of the process. We are looking at a very broad sweep of issues.

I will start by looking at some issues that we all recognise as wrong and in respect of which the law needs to be changed. I would like the witnesses to answer by explaining how they think the law should be changed in these areas. I will mention as an example the case of a woman in a relationship who consents to the taking of intimate photographs, before the relationship ends and her ex-partner subsequently publishes the photographs on the Internet. How do the witnesses believe the civil law should be changed in the first place? The woman's right to privacy has been breached and her confidence has been eroded. Is Ms Farries suggesting we should have a new statutory provision that recognises the statutory right to privacy of such a woman and provides her with a remedy in statute?