Professor Donncha O'Connell:

I will refer some of the questions to Mr. Brown because he will have a better sense of the answers. With regard to child offenders, we recommend the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, is obtained for anyone under the age of 17 before a prosecution can be taken. We have not classified these offences as sexual offences, so the normal implications of conviction for sexual offence would not apply, such as being on the register of sex offenders. This is not uncontroversial, but we took the view as a commission that it was the more appropriate and proportionate thing to do regarding what we are dealing with here.

We have distinguished the issue of sexting, which is a colloquial term used to describe some of the mobile phone interactions or Instagram interactions of younger people, from the voyeuristic offence of upskirting, which is a non-consensual offence. We see it as more appropriate for the guidance material to be developed by the digital safety commission in consultation with the Office of the Ombudsman for Children. We are looking at these issues in a way that is less brutal than the criminal law-driven way that might be suggested for other types of situations. I am not aware of the case the Senator mentioned, but Mr. Byrne might be aware of it.

I will pass the issues of child reporting, the Australian example and gambling to Mr. Byrne.