Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will make a very brief comment and then ask a question to Ms Carolan. Let me end on a positive note because a lot of this is about regulating and dealing with the negative stuff, the social media and material on the Internet. It is important to emphasise that the Internet, as well as being a toxic place at times, is a very strong, powerful and empowering place, which is why we all use it in our work to promote our activity. It gives people access to large volumes of good information that they would not otherwise have access to. We need to balance those things. I remind people that if they want a lot of disinformation, they should not go to the Internet but sit in the Dáil Chamber for a few days. They will hear a lot there. Often the sources are some of the political actors who most loudly complain about these matters. I am not talking about people present but people more generally.

Industry representatives will be before us next week. If Ms Carolan were in our shoes and had the opportunity to ask them some questions in the context of this legislation, what would she ask them? What should we watch out for in the responses they are likely to give? There is a quite strong cross-party consensus to the effect that we would like the section of the Bill in which Ms Carolan is interested to be much stronger which, of course, a committee can achieve by way of amendment. I presume the industry will resist some of this. What would Ms Carolan ask the representatives, and what should we be looking out for?