Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for inviting representatives of Coláiste Bhríde to make a presentation on their Be Aware, Don't Compare campaign. It is a privilege for me to welcome Ms Sheppard, Mr. Rawson, Ms Cullen, Ms Hynes, Ms Mulroe and Mr. Jordan, and indeed Ms Murphy and Ms Dunne, the principal. It is my second time to welcome them to Leinster House. I am here not to question them but to thank them for their campaign. I will support them into the future to see can we bring some form of legislation through this House in response to their requests.

The most recent occasion on which representatives from Coláiste Bhríde came to Leinster House, we had a great engagement with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. The Minister, Deputy Foley, visited Coláiste Bhríde in Carnew and the students had two minutes to make a pitch to her. That was when they grabbed my attention initially. Since then, I have been honoured to be involved with this important campaign.

It is important that we listen to their needs and to what they are asking us to do in Leinster House to address this issue. It is a simple ask. They have asked us to introduce legislation to provide for the labelling of photographs that have been cropped, adjusted or filtered and for that to be clearly identified. I congratulate these students on their massive PR campaign, which included the local press, the unveiling of a billboard in Gorey when we had a great day out, their engagement with Ryan Tubridy on the "The Ryan Tubridy Show" and their engaging with two Ministers, one in Leinster House and one in Carnew. It is very special and a privilege for them to make it to a committee hearing today and I wish them the best of luck with their proposal. Theirs is a simple ask.

When it comes to our physical health, we have no issue labelling products that cause harm, be it food products carrying a label with a fat or sugar content, alcohol products with a label indicating the damage alcohol can cause or cigarettes with a label indicating smoking is harmful. The students have raised the impact photographs have on their mental health. Why can such photographs not be labelled in terms of protecting young people's mental health and addressing the issue from a health perspective? It would also have an educational and online impact. The simple way to address it might be to introduce a legislative measure from a medical point of view and from the point of view of the impact such images have on young people and others. We all know the impact social media has on our lives and how disturbing it can be.

I thank the Chairman for allowing me to contribute on this issue. It is big honour for me as a Wicklow person to welcome students from a Wicklow school to this committee hearing. I will support the students in whatever way I can to introduce legislation on this issue through the education system, through online media regulation or through the health area. The students' ask is simple. Let us label photographs that have been cropped, altered or changed. All they are asking us to do today is to introduce such legislation. We know the impact such images have on our mental health. I thank all of our guests for coming to Leinster House, especially, as my colleague said, during their holidays. They did not even get a day off school today for their trip to Leinster House. I thank them for working with me and it has been an honour to work with them.