Dáil debates

Thursday, 17 December 2020

Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages

 

4:50 pm

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I can see where the Minister of State is coming from. What is deemed to be a relatively minor offence cannot be hanging over a person who is innocent until proven guilty forever. However, we are dealing with new technology and the storage of an image. I welcome the Minister of State's clarification that one image can be and should be an issue of criminal proceedings. It could be on the other side of the world, as Deputy Pringle said, and one does not know and finds out three, four or six years later. Will a complaint made at that point be regarded as a new complaint or is it gone out of date and one cannot go back? The Minister of State should consider this amendment.

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