Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I do not propose to accept this amendment but I accept that there is an issue with young children accessing online services that were not designed with them in mind. It is an issue that I am aware of, both as a parent of and as the chair of the National Advisory Council for Online Safety. It is a complex issue that it is being worked on at EU level. Finding workable solutions in this area will raise a number of complex issues, including privacy and data protection matters, that would need to be resolved before a solution could be effectively implemented and, therefore, I cannot accept the amendment.

However, I will ask an coimisiún to examine this issue as a priority, in conjunction with the Data Protection Commission and through engaging on the Better Internet for Kids strategy, to identify potential options and solutions to dealing with this complex issue. As I said, not everything can be dealt with in a single Bill but what matters is that we put the framework in place. I will tell the commission to deal with this as a matter of priority but it is also about dealing with it on an EU-wide basis. In May, the European Commission launched a new European strategy for a Better Internet for Kids. The strategy is built on three pillars - child protection in the online environment; digital empowerment; and active participation. Under the child protection pillar, there is a strong focus on providing age-appropriate online experiences, which the amendment is trying to address, including through age verification and age-appropriate design. In this regard, the Commission commits to facilitating a comprehensive code of conduct on age-appropriate design by 2024 using the provisions of the DSA, which provides that such codes of conduct may be co-regulatory instruments. The Commission has indicated that the code could provide for age verification for accessing certain online content. To facilitate age verification, the Commission has committed to work with member states and EU standardisation to strengthen effective age verification methods. This would be most effective if it was done on a Europe-wide basis and that is why we need to wait. There is a pilot as well called euCONSENT.

I think I have mentioned the pilot to the Deputy previously during Question Time or at the committee. It is an ongoing pilot looking to deliver that online age verification and parental consent which balances the rights I mentioned earlier, the rights of the children and the need to protect them from online harm and age-inappropriate content. The result of that pilot will inform us on an EU-wide basis. It would be more effective to do it on an EU-wide basis.