Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I too want to ask about the current position of the Government on the digital age of consent now that Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin support the Labour Party position that the digital age of consent be 16 years and are committed to moving amendments in that regard. Will the Government give further consideration to the appropriate digital age of consent because the protection of young people is more frequently in the minds of all citizens when we see to what young people are being required to sign up? Children younger than 16 years should be protected from this.

The Taoiseach told the Dáil that the Government was considering legislation to protect journalists' sources following the alleged data breach at INM. He may recall that on Tuesday he said it was time for the Government to dust down reports on the issue. Has that dusting down been completed and is there a commitment to legislate in this area? We all agree that the protection of journalistic sources and a free press from interference is an important bulwark of our democracy. It is a concern for all of us that there would be a doubt about who might access journalists' sources and certainly the activities of a free press. Last week I looked at the ranking of Ireland in terms of journalistic freedom and it is reasonably high. We have to make sure we maintain and improve that status by having protections for journalists.

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