Ms Eileen Leahy:

I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to discuss child Internet safety. I wish first to set out the functions of the Office for Internet Safety and our role in this area, including progress the office has made since its establishment.

The office was established in 2008 on foot of a Government decision as an executive office, that is, on an administrative basis, within the Department of Justice. Following its establishment, its operational focus has been in the following four areas: awareness-raising and information activities; co-ordinating the EU safer Internet programme for Ireland with four partner bodies; oversight of takedown procedures for child sexual abuse material, CSAM; and developing strategic actions to promote the highest possible levels of Internet safety, particularly in respect of combating CSAM.

To expand on each of these a little, we seek to promote awareness of Internet safety and to highlight its importance for parents, children and all young people. We try to encourage appropriate conduct on the Internet, not only by raising awareness about preventative actions but also by giving advice on how to respond when individuals are affected by misuse. In this regard the office publishes a series of booklets on Internet safety particularly aimed at providing guidance to parents on filtering, social networking and cyberbullying. These booklets are very popular with schools and parents, and in 2016 we issued more than 40,000 of them. They are also available via our dedicated website, internetsafety.ie, which publishes information for parents and guardians together with links to many other useful sites, in particular to our four partner bodies and the helplines associated with them. In addition, we liaise with the Garda schools programme in the supply of awareness-raising materials for their visits to schools, including materials for the EU-wide Safer Internet Day held in February of each year.

Regarding our role in EU safer Internet project funding in Ireland, we partner with four organisations, and we very much work on a partnership model with them - the National Parents Council Primary, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ISPCC, the Professional Development Service for Teachers, PDST, which I think has otherwise been referred to as Webwise, and hotline.ie- in channelling funding to initiatives in the area of child safety. These bodies focus, respectively, on helping parents, providing a helpline for children, specifically through the Childline service, raising awareness on Internet safety in schools, and the provision of a reporting service for illegal content. Funding for Internet safety comes under the connecting Europe facility budget envelope and attracts grant funding at a rate of 50% with matched funding from each of the relevant project partners. We are now in the sixth round of this EU funding programme. To date Ireland has received approximately €3.4 million in funding. However, it must be noted that the European Commission has indicated that it is not in favour of extending this funding beyond 2019.

A key area of our work relates to the hotline.iereporting system and takedown procedures. This reactive facility is operated on a voluntary reporting basis by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland. The activity can vary but, for the most part, it relates to CSAM, which is otherwise referred to as child pornography. The hotline.ieservice notifies the Internet service provider which then removes the material. This is what is referred to as the notice and takedown procedure. In parallel, hotline.iealso notifies An Garda Síochána which investigates sites hosted in Ireland or links with the appropriate authorities in the relevant jurisdiction.

As an additional measure, An Garda Síochána signed a memorandum of understanding in November 2014 with one company, under which the company agreed to block child sexual abuse material, CSAM, as per a list supplied by it. The Garda continues to engage with other companies with a view to establishing further such arrangements and it works with police forces internationally to seek out such activity continually, and with some very welcome success.

In terms of strategic actions, the office is guided by the Internet safety advisory committee, which is chaired by an industry expert and comprises representatives from An Garda Síochána, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, academia, industry and the four partner bodies that I have already referenced. Its terms of reference include advising on all aspects of Internet safety and acting as the national stakeholder forum, as required under the EU funding commitments. The committee meets twice yearly.

I hope I have given sufficient information to help the committee understand our role. My colleague, Ms McCabe, and I are happy to address any questions or comments members of the committee may have.