Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

One of the issues that has emerged in the research that has been carried out at third level is that there is not enough conversation around the area of consent. This leads to a situation that might otherwise be an interaction between two consenting adults becoming an assault. There is a parallel issue of the proliferation of pornography and access to pornography. In the absence of proper, strong sex education, people internalise behaviours around what they see online and think it is normal. That was one of the issues that emerged at third level. I imagine that is the case at second level, too, because kids are now getting smartphones at six, seven and eight years of age. The big tech companies were before the committee. They did not really satisfy us that they could filter that material on the basis of age and access.

Do any of the witnesses wish to comment on that?