Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Similar to the previous question, the priority for all of us here, and this Government, is to make sure children are safe, be it online or offline or in their homes, bedrooms, communities and schools. It is an absolute priority to make sure children are protected. The world we live in is changing and for young people the world of online, social media and technology is part and parcel of their world in a way it was not for so many of us when we were young. We know the benefits that brings to their lives, our lives, our work and the way we communicate but we can all clearly see, as the Deputy just outlined, the pitfalls, challenges and dangers young people are facing online.

There is much we need to do. The Deputy mentioned Coimisiún na Meán. We are the first country in Europe to establish an online safety commission and the sole focus of the commissioner is to make sure we remove harmful and illegal content. Where companies do not comply, there is a very hefty fine at the end of the day. The fine can be up to 10% of turnover or up to €20 million if content is not taken down or if the company does not comply with the codes of conduct and its own rules. It is important that the online safety commissioner establishes that this code is applied and companies know it will be used.

As Minister for Justice, my priority was making sure our laws were tough. Coco's Law, the first law I introduced, made it illegal to share harmful content online. Unfortunately, where personal content is being shared, we are seeing that the harm this causes young people is insurmountable. I am pleased to say that is something young people are now aware of. We need to make sure the law actually changes behaviour, not that we are penalising young people.

The Deputy touched on the issue of violent pornography. We see more and more of it and access to it is so readily available for young people. The knock-on implications when it comes to domestic and sexual violence are horrific and we see this at a much younger age. That is why we need to make sure that in everything we do, we are talking to young people and engaging with them.

I watched "Adolescence" and while there were certain elements of every single episode that made all of us stop and think, one of the things that stood out to me the most was the second episode when the police officer was speaking to his son in the school and the son said that he did not get it, this is what they were saying to each other, this is what it means. We need to talk to young people. We need to understand how they are communicating with each other. We need to teach them how to deal with certain types of content and engagement. I agree, insofar as possible, that we need to protect young people from it as well.

I fully support the smartphone ban in primary schools. It is absolutely necessary. I do not think any child before secondary school age should have access to social media. There is a role for all of us parents to make sure that when a child leaves school and comes home they are not on social media at night, that they are not in their bedroom able to access who knows what and that there are controls on any apps they are using. We also need to make sure that in our schools and through our education systems we are providing that support and engaging with young people. In that regard, a lot of programmes are already being rolled out through Webwise and the Department of Education.

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