Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I thank the delegation for its presentation. As a teacher before I came into the Dáil, I believe YouTube is a strong power for good and a great teaching aid. It was used by me and my peers to enhance our teaching practices. For example, when teaching the safe cross code to six year olds, it is easier to get a YouTube interactive video with the song up on the whiteboard rather than having to sing it out one's self. However, most schools, particularly primary schools, have robust Internet policies and block access to YouTube to prevent children from seeing unsuitable material. Has YouTube ever considered, with the Department of Education and Skills, a separate platform for YouTube's education videos? It could be rolled out across the European Union.

In my constituency a fortnight ago, the principal of a post-primary school took a robust and concerted approach to dealing with an issue on a different social media platform which has since become a high-profile incident covered in national media outlets. When YouTube receives a complaint from a person about a video uploaded on its platform, how long does it take to remove it? The last thing anyone wants is for people to have to go to the courts to have a clip taken down. Usually, the person's identity becomes known through court proceedings and more people will look at the upload.