Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús báire ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabhail leis na Teachtaí as an méid a labhair siad faoin mBille seo. As I stated at the beginning of this debate, the issue of children accessing online material that is not appropriate for them, particularly pornography, is a serious matter. This is why the Government has acted and legislated for a new regulatory framework under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, to be enforced by an independent expert regulator, Coimisiún na Meán. In bringing the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act through these Houses, I was highly conscious of the need for better protections for children online and for regulation in this area to be practically and legally robust and to align with the wider EU digital regulatory rules. In developing the Act, I consulted closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including organisations focused on the welfare of children, such as the Children's Rights Alliance and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

I am happy to say that we now have in place a regulatory system through which we can work to achieve the goals behind Deputy Tóibín's Bill. As I set out, while the Deputy's Bill is well-intentioned, it is unworkable and has been superseded by the Government's action in this space. I will not reiterate the issues with the Bill in detail but I will note the key issues. The Bill seeks to provide powers to ComReg to regulate online content, despite ComReg not having a role in content regulation. Further to this, the Bill is not cognisant of the enactment of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act and the establishment of Coimisiún na Meán and is, therefore, simply out of date.

In addition, the Bill's approach to regulation is to confer significant rule-making powers upon the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, who has no role with regard to the regulation of content transmitted using telecommunications services, which would then be enforced by ComReg. As I said, this approach runs counter to the standard approach in Irish and EU law of providing for independent regulatory bodies.

Lastly, the Bill is a blunt instrument, both in terms of how it intends to deal with enforcement against non-compliant services and its geographical scope. The latter, in particular, runs counter to the EU's country-of-origin principle that Ireland has strongly defended.

I am satisfied the work undertaken to date both legislatively at an EU level and through other initiatives has created a foundation upon which children will be better protected online and better able to enjoy the good that the online world offers. This is why I have proposed that the motion be amended so that the Bill is not read a second time.

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