Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Could the Minister outline who will make up the expert group and when it will begin its work? In terms of the timeline, will the group's work affect the passing of the Bill? Will there be a delay?

The Minister will also be aware that the joint committee flagged that the lack of the individual complaints mechanism was a major deficiency in the general scheme of the Bill. There was a prolonged and extensive engagement with stakeholders and the vast majority of them were very much in favour of an individual complaints mechanism. The only ones who spoke in favour of the systemic complaints mechanism were the big tech companies and the major social media companies. Those who spoke in favour of having an individual complaints mechanism included, for example, the Ombudsman for Children's Office, the Children's Rights Alliance, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ISPCC, Safe Ireland, Rape Crisis Network Ireland, CyberSafeKids and the Data Protection Commissioner. The Minister can see that its importance is felt by all those stakeholders.

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