Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to give a warm Irish welcome to the commissioner and to Mr. Dagg. We are delighted to have them both here. It is interesting to hear the Australian experience and the work they have been doing over the past six years to regulate this whole online world. I will start with a question for Mr. Dagg. We have just had a young law student at committee. She was here just before Mr. Dagg joined the meeting. She had the experience of having her image taken and used. The image was of a naked woman's body and it was posted on an Instagram account. She related to the committee the difficulty of the complaints' process. Since the e-Safety Commissioner has been formed, has their presence seen a sea change in how the tech giants deal with that complaints process? Mr. Dagg has pointed out that the complainants have to go to the tech giant before going to the commissioners. However, has there been a sea change? What pressure does Mr. Dagg put on the tech giants?

My follow-up question is to the commissioner, although these can be answered together. She spoke about the new online safety Act which was passed in Australia in 2021. How specifically has that been tweaked? In what spheres was it tweaked? What deficiencies did she see that needed to be addressed? If she has had a chance to look at the Irish Bill, does she see any deficiencies in this piece of legislation? Many people who have come to the committee have said that they want to see the Bill amended in different spheres. I have one last question for the commissioner. I have found through this pre-legislative process is the huge breadth of work emcompassed in this Bill. It is overwhelming to hear the witness testimony, especially from the young girl who was just in the meeting, or the special rapporteur on child protection rights. They talk about the abuse to these people. I ask the commissioner, because she ended her statement by talking about putting citizens first, has she found that emotionally stressful in her job? She is dealing with the attacks on citizens' rights as well.