David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Crider for that. I just wanted to clarify that issue. As the Chair said, we must be careful about what we say if cases are before the courts. I asked several other questions about the pandemic and whether its impact had made the situation worse. Perhaps Ms Plunkett or Ms Ní Bhrógáin might be able to comment on that aspect. I refer to the working from home situation and what is involved in that regard.

We can talk about psychiatric help, but from what has been said and what I have been reading about this issue, it strikes me that some of the content is so awful and shocking that I wonder whether people could be damaged so much by seeing this material in the first place that no amount of psychiatric help could assist. Ms Plunkett said that people experience nightmares and it is impossible to get the content viewed out of their heads and that it is impossible to forget having seen something so awful and terrible.

This issue, therefore, comes back to the society we live in, how awful it is and whether anyone should be looking at this stuff. However, is there another way of dealing with it? Someone has to look at the content to judge it and then take it down, otherwise the whole system would collapse. It is a very serious, deep and, as Ms Crider said, systemic issue right across society. Prevention is better, but how would it be possible to prevent people from seeing something that is so awful that even seeing such content even once might leave them scarred for life? I thank the witnesses for being here and sharing their stories with us. I ask them to comment on those questions.