Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Sinn Féin's initiative in bringing this issue forward. I will try to be as specific as possible in the two minutes available to me. The chilling reality of the world we live in is that while people have always gossiped in the past, now people can do it on-line and we can see it at first hand. In the past, the subject of gossip was sometimes the last to find out and sometimes never found out at all, and were protected by that. Now, however, there is no escape or protection for the subject because of anonymity on-line and on radio. That is something that must be addressed as well.

We can learn from the schools. I met a group from Milford Community School before Christmas and the teenagers talked about dignity, respect, rights and responsibilities. We can learn from our teenage ambassadors. People of that age have a civic responsibility and a heightened awareness of civic duty, environmental issues and the way to treat people. We must have an all-encompassing strategy. Deputy Conway is absolutely right that we must include the parents and the community. Cyberspace is here and will remain here, so we must learn and teach people the techniques and tools as to how to treat people with dignity and respect. That is the issue.

If adults have the protection of anonymity on national or local radio when they can send in text messages saying they are Bill from Donegal when they are from Cork or Mick from Dublin when they are from Wexford, what message does that give to our young people?

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