Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Bruton. We will shortly move to the second round of questions but before we do so, I wish to pose a question to the Minister, Deputy Naughten. We have spoken at length about what age between 13 and 16 is the appropriate digital age of consent. Aspects of the topic are very distressing for members and others. Some parents will be vigilant and others will not. Some children are more clever than all of us and will be able to get online and do whatever they want. Can social media companies be made responsible in terms of the digital age of consent? Can we put forward legislation to make it illegal for them to take data belonging to children under the age of 16 and put the onus on them in that regard? That might be the simplest method to resolve this question.