John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and Members very much for that. I want to agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett. I believe these bigger companies should be taxed and the money should then be reinvested into the arts of one kind or another. Some way should be found to do that because what we are experiencing online, with the input of individuals or of bigger companies, is nothing but trash. One is in the sewer the minute one goes into some of those online platforms. We need to have regulation.

I see a very significant gap between those who are familiar with online business and those who are not properly educated, for want of a better term, on what can happen online. As a result of that gap, one can get scams of all sorts happening. Therefore, I would like to include in this Bill some form of recognition that companies are obliged to ensure that when a person's name has been included in some form of scam, he or she can make an input to the online platforms to ensure they work to prevent it from happening in the future. I am thinking of older people at home who are contacted by a service provider and coaxed into giving their financial details.

A lady in Kilkenny was codded out of €3,500. It happened in split seconds and the money was gone. Her efforts to deal with the banks and with the company came to naught because they ignored her. We have to reach out to those people and ensure those who are involved in that type of transaction can be held to account. In fact, one can see online through purchases how one can be codded very easily and how easily one can lose one's money.

As such, there is a constant battle that must be fought with those bigger companies, but we must ensure there is not a digital divide between those who are older or maybe younger who are simply not literate in all these activities. Some provision must be made to protect those vulnerable people and perhaps to go along the lines of investing in public broadcasting. The main source of information and news for people is their local radio and I would like to see whatever money that is spent being spent in a way through local radio or through public broadcasting. It should not be favouring RTÉ or some of the bigger broadcasters but bringing on those that make direct input into the lives of people through local radio and local papers to ensure the message from this Digital Services Bill is got across to them and that they have been given, through the Bill, an easy access to getting some sort of redress for the problems they have had. I encourage the Minister of State to look at that and think of the older people and those who are not literate in this area.

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