Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms O'Sullivan and Professor Crowley. I will be brief because I have only a minute remaining. I thank Ms O'Sullivan for her work in this respect, for being an advocate and for appearing before this committee. One of the most important aspects is how she has highlighted the point of contact with An Garda Síochána in respect of reporting crimes like this. In Ms O'Sullivan's case, that was a serious sexual crime which happened on the street. I refer to the work of An Garda Síochána in being able to deal with a case like this and, as Ms O'Sullivan said, showing empathy in doing so.

Turning to Instagram, and Ms O'Sullivan's interaction with that platform, does she believe that a helpline would be more helpful, instead of going through a series of exercises to tick boxes? My experience of these social media giants is that it is very hard to get contact with humans. In her interaction with Senator Byrne, Professor Crowley touched on these tech giants and their interests in the commercial world. This goes to the nub of the issue. When representatives of those companies were before this committee, what seemed to come through from the meeting was those companies seeking to protect what they perceive as their freedoms because it is obviously in the advertising space that those companies are going to make their money. From a legal point of view, how far should the Oireachtas and society in general be pushing to get a greater balance in this sphere? I ask that because I think the situation now is totally unbalanced.