Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I know of codes and I know of guidelines that are going to be produced.

The Minister made the point that this Bill will not tackle the whole problem of pornography being pushed to children. If we cannot fix all of it, we will fix none of it. That seems to be the instinct here but that is rubbish. To be honest, Deputies and governments can only make marginal changes to society but those marginal changes can protect the welfare of lots of people and are worth doing in their own right. I am not saying my Bill is perfect but it could be brought to Committee Stage, worked on and fixed. There are issues in it that could definitely be fixed in committee.

The Minister mentioned that particular companies are located in other countries but the objective of this Bill is to control Internet service providers that are located and registered in Ireland. The Minister mentioned the fact that Pornhub and other companies are located in other countries but we can control what Internet service providers are doing here. Indeed, there is a precedent in this regard. Internet service providers have been forced to take down websites that are operating in other countries because they are providing commercial copyright material. Money talks in this country.

I understand that steps have been taken and forgive me if, in my presentation today, I suggested the Government has not made an effort. The Minister's Bill is one such effort. I accept that and perhaps I should apologise to the Minister somewhat for not acknowledging that the creation of Coimisiún na Meán is a step forward. It is an effort by the Government to tackle this issue. My main point is that there is an urgency here and the Government's response is still quite nebulous in terms of what is actually going to be done.

This project copies exactly what has already happened within the legal system in Ireland. While the Bill is not perfect, I ask that the Government would allow it to progress to the next stage.

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