Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The horse has bolted when it comes to the Internet. All kids, 13 years and under, use it. Those who are in denial should cop themselves on. The reason most countries have moved to an age lower than 16 years is they are concerned that valuable websites will be denied to young people as it is unclear what services would fall under the term "information society services". It is absolute nonsense to claim consenting to have one's data profiled is a link with some evil social media website. It could also very much cover educational websites and so on.

Members have spoken about striking a balance in the debate. If one looks at this as a seesaw, all of the weight of the argument is on one side. It is very interesting how the debate has changed since earlier times. It is very suspicious and weird and I have never seen the likes of it. On one side, we have a section of the media, a few politicians, some of whom have changed their minds - I am not talking about the Social Democrats - a data analytics entrepreneur, an adviser to Interpol, Europol, the FBI and Paladin Capital Group. The latter is a government security and intelligence focused venture capital firm headed by the former deputy director of the NSA. On the other side, we have every single child protection organisation in the State, namely, the ISPCC, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Children's Rights Alliance, the special rapporteur for children, the Ombudsman for Children, Cyberspace Ireland, SpunOut.ie, the president and president-elect of the Psychological Society of Ireland, the director of the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre, the UNESCO chair for children, youth and civil engagement and a variety of senior clinical psychologists. It is not surprising that individuals with a security and intelligence background would have an interest in getting people to reveal their identities. If we are all in favour of child protection, I will side with the child protection experts and go for a digital age of consent of 13 years.

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