Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this extremely serious matter and drawing our attention to the reality of what is happening as young minds are reshaped in ways that can do great harm to them, when those young minds have their expectations set regarding what should be permissible and consensual and are putting behaviours in place we know can be so harmful to their well-being and safety in future. She raised a very important matter and correctly made the point that this is not about trying to go back to some kind of role where the State acted as a censor or seeking to go back to other practices.

It is simply about getting the balance right and recognising that for our youngest people, young boys and young girls, who could be exposed to content, it is not only inappropriate but also has unfortunately the real potential to be highly dangerous and damaging.

I will answer the different questions the Deputy put to me. There are four actions that are in place from the Government on that at the moment, through the Government directly and through our online regulation. The first one is the online safety code which is in place. Part A of that online safety code has set out very clear but general obligations regarding what we expect social media platforms to do in order to protect children from harmful content. Part B of that code, which will apply from 21 July in a few weeks' time, will set out very specific obligations regarding age verifications for particular platforms to protect our youngest from content which they simply should not be seeing and which could do such harm to them both now and in later life.

In recognition of the importance of this issue and the need for European action to which I will return in a moment, the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, along with other ministers from EU member states has now co-signed a letter to the European Commission emphasising how critical the issue of age verification is and looking to meet the French and Danish ministers on this.

On the cost of non-compliance, there are fines of up to €20 million or 10% of turnover, whichever is greater, and continued non-compliance can lead to legal action against senior management and those involved in the availability of this content.

The Deputy mentioned France. I understand that the law it has put in place, which is a recognition by France of the importance of the issue the Deputy is raising today, can only apply to websites and content that originates in France. That highlights the need for co-operation between member states and highlights the need for the EU to act collectively on the issue. It is really important. Those are the actions we are talking and I thank the Deputy for raising it.

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